BARG COFFIN’S MORGAN GILHULY RECEIVES CALIFORNIA LAWYER
ATTORNEY OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Barg Coffin Lewis & Trapp, LLP Managing Partner R. Morgan Gilhuly has been honored with the 2012 California Lawyer magazine Attorney of the Year Award (CLAY) in the category of Environmental Law.

The 2012 CLAY Awards recognize a select group of only 56 attorneys across 20 different practice areas throughout California whose achievements have made a profound impact and have “changed the law, substantially influenced public policy or the profession, or achieved a remarkable victory for a client or for the public.”

Gilhuly’s selection was based on his work securing a successful outcome for clients in a matter ultimately decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In a precedent-setting ruling, the Ninth Circuit set limits on claims in nuisance and under the Water Code – two key areas of California environmental law. The Ninth Circuit’s ruling reversed a lower court’s award of more than $2 million in damages and attorneys’ fees.

Gilhuly focuses on environmental litigation and counseling. He handles matters involving issues related to climate change and greenhouse gases, releases of chemicals from industrial facilities, toxic torts, cost recovery actions and the environmental aspects of real estate and other transactions.

Active in the legal community, Gilhuly is a former Judge Pro Tem for the Contra Costa County Superior Court and a former adjunct professor of environmental law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. He is a graduate of Yale Law School (J.D., 1986) and Amherst College (B.A., 1980).