Ella Foley-Gannon

Ella Foley-Gannon is a Partner in Land Use and Natural Resource Practice Group in the firm's San Francisco Office.

Ella Foley-Gannon specializes in counseling clients undertaking complex development projects in California. She has represented clients in preparing land use plans, multi-phased development plans, and large residential, commercial and mixed used development projects. Her practice focuses on providing legal and strategic advice to land development companies on wide range of federal and state regulatory matters. These include the Clean Water Act, the Federal Endangered Species Act, the California Endangered Species Act, the Porter-Cologne Act, and California Department of Fish and Game Stream Alteration Agreements. Ms. Foley-Gannon frequently serves as a team leader and coordinator for complex natural resource permitting projects and provides leadership to the interdisciplinary teams needed to successfully comply with a myriad of state and federal regulatory requirements. In addition to her experience negotiating with regulators and other stake holders to gain development entitlements, she also works with clients to ensure ongoing compliance with complex permit requirements and conditions, drafts conservation agreements and negotiates long term management agreements for preserved lands.

Education

• J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1998, magna cum laude, order of the coif,
• B.A., University of Michigan, 1989

Clerkships

• Law clerk to the Honorable Melvin Brunetti of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Research Fellow for the University of California Water Resources Department

Admissions

• District Court of California, Northern District and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Articles

• Ninth Circuit Raises the Level of Protection Afforded to Critical Habitat, September 29, 2004

• Institutional Arrangements for Conjunctive Water Management in California and Analysis of Legal Reform Alternatives (with Brian E. Gray), University of California Water Resources Center, 1999. (related article published at:  Hastings West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law and Policy (Winter 2000))

Speeches

• California Regulation of Wetlands After SWANCC – Testing the Limits of Regulatory Authority, CLE International California Wetlands Conference, Sacramento, California, January, 2008
• Integrating Resources in Floodplain-Grant Programs and Collaborative Partnerships, FMA 2007 Annual Conference: Collaborative Approaches to Integrated Floodplain Management (Panel Presentation, Scheduled, South Lake Tahoe, Nevada, September, 2007)
• Overview of Storm Water Regulations: A Practical Review of the Regulations Effect on Development projects in California, CLE International Annual California Wetlands Conference, San Diego, California, August, 2007
• Endangered Species Act and Wetlands Regulations: ESA Considerations in 404 Permitting Process, CLE International National Wetlands Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 2007
• Endangered Species and Wetlands Regulations, CLE International California Wetlands Conference, Sacramento, California, January 2007 (Co-Chair of Conference)