Deborah J. Schmall is a partner in the Environmental practice of Paul Hastings based out of the San Francisco office.

Ms. Schmall advises and represents petroleum companies, life sciences companies, universities, developers, telecommunications companies, transportation companies and other entities on a broad range of environmental regulatory, facility siting and closures, and remediation issues arising under federal environmental laws and their state counterparts, such as CERCLA, RCRA, the Clean Air Act (including the banking, acquisition, and trading of emissions credits), the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act and others. She defends high-profile civil and criminal enforcement actions initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state environmental agencies, and citizens’ groups. Among her areas of focus is providing strategic counsel to developers and investors regarding significant brownfield projects, including the redevelopment of former federal facilities, and representing buyers, sellers, and investors in real property acquisitions and divestitures and in corporate mergers.

Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Schmall served as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and as a Trial Attorney with the Environmental Enforcement Section of the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, D.C. In the latter capacity, she was the lead Justice Department lawyer on CERCLA, RCRA, Clean Water Act, and air enforcement actions initiated by the U.S. EPA in federal courts across the country.

Ms. Schmall is a frequent author and lecturer at national conferences. She has lectured at Stanford, Harvard, USF and Hastings law schools, as well as for commercial MCLE providers. She was a founding member and a former Executive Committee member of the California State Bar’s Environmental Law Section, and formerly served as chair of the Board of Directors of Equal Rights Advocates. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Creative Land Recycling, the Advisory Board of Sustainable Conservation, and the Board of Directors of openhouse (a non-profit organization devoted to providing housing and services to LGBT seniors). Ms. Schmall was recognized as one of the leading environmental attorneys in California in The Best Lawyers in America (2007 - present) and in Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers (2004 - present) as well as being listed as one of the best California environmental lawyers in International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers (2007 to present).