Jan Chatten-Brown
Consultant Retired Attorney Jan Chatten-Brown has had an accomplished career in environmental law, which was capped off in 2022, when she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental Section of the California Lawyer's Association. For the first twenty-one years of Jan’s practice, she worked in various public law offices, including the first environmental unit in the California's Attorney General's office; organizing the first environmental prosecution program in the country in a local prosecutor's office; and as special assistant for occupational safety & health and environmental protection in the Los Angeles District Attorney Office.
|
Jan opened the Law Offices of Jan Chatten-Brown in January 1995, which later became Chatten-Brown & Carstens. Jan has argued many trial, and appellate cases, including two in the California Supreme Court. One was Save Tara v. City of West Hollywood, which involves the timing of environmental review. The other was No Oil Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, which she argued early in her career as amicus curiae, or “friend of the court” on behalf of the California Attorney General. These are widely considered two very important judicial decisions assuring an effective application of CEQA.
Jan also worked extensively on behalf of the City of South Pasadena and a variety of environmental and preservation groups in opposing the extension of the 710 freeway. Working with another prominent environmental attorney, she developed the Clean Air analysis that was an important part of the federal preliminary injunction that prevented the project from going forward without a new analysis. Ultimately, the freeway extension was abandoned, and no new freeways have since been proposed in California.
In addition to practicing law, Jan served on three statewide environmental boards, and as Chair of each of them: the Coalition for Clean Air, the Sierra Nevada Alliance, and the Planning and Conservation League. She was also appointed by Governor Brown to serve on the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency during the second half of the 1970's, when the agency's regional plan was being developed, which was widely considered one of the most innovative of its time. She taught environmental law at UCLA and Land Use Law at USC Law School and has lectured around the country on CEQA and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Jan has received numerous awards from governmental agencies and environmental groups, in addition to the one capping her career. In 2022, Jan retired as an attorney and now dedicates her free time to climate change activism. Drawing from her extensive experience in environmental law, Jan consults with the attorneys at Chatten-Brown Law Group on complicated legal issues, but does so on a pro bono basis and is not engaged in the practice of law.
Jan also worked extensively on behalf of the City of South Pasadena and a variety of environmental and preservation groups in opposing the extension of the 710 freeway. Working with another prominent environmental attorney, she developed the Clean Air analysis that was an important part of the federal preliminary injunction that prevented the project from going forward without a new analysis. Ultimately, the freeway extension was abandoned, and no new freeways have since been proposed in California.
In addition to practicing law, Jan served on three statewide environmental boards, and as Chair of each of them: the Coalition for Clean Air, the Sierra Nevada Alliance, and the Planning and Conservation League. She was also appointed by Governor Brown to serve on the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency during the second half of the 1970's, when the agency's regional plan was being developed, which was widely considered one of the most innovative of its time. She taught environmental law at UCLA and Land Use Law at USC Law School and has lectured around the country on CEQA and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Jan has received numerous awards from governmental agencies and environmental groups, in addition to the one capping her career. In 2022, Jan retired as an attorney and now dedicates her free time to climate change activism. Drawing from her extensive experience in environmental law, Jan consults with the attorneys at Chatten-Brown Law Group on complicated legal issues, but does so on a pro bono basis and is not engaged in the practice of law.