Career Highlights
Steve Farkas Law
Real Estate, Environmental, Oil and Gas Law, and Corporate and General Counsel Services
Big Law Experience Reasonable Rates
Located in Southern California
PRACTICE
AREAS
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
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Contaminated Property Cleanups
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Underground Storage Tank Issues
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Superfund and RCRA
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Air and Water Law
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Business Transactions
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Company Compliance With Environmental Laws
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Defense of Enforcement Actions
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Asbestos
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Legislative and Regulatory Developments
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Greenhouse Gas Emissions
CORPORATE/GENERAL
COUNSEL SERVICES
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Corporate Policies
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Investigations
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Contracts
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Leases
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Licenses
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Pre-litigation dispute resolution
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Acquisition Due Diligence
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Supervise Outside Counsel
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Equipment Transaction
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Project Entitlements and Approvals
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
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Purchase and Sales
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Commercial and Industrial Leasing
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Neighbor Disputes
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Municipal Approvals
OIL AND GAS LAW
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Oil Well Abandonment
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Pipeline Compliance and Removal
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Sale of Oil and Gas Equipment
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Refinery Compliance
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Supply Agreements
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Waste Disposal Issues
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Construction Contracts
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Transactions Involving Energy Assets
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Renewable Fuels
About Steve Farkas
With almost 40 years of legal experience, Steve Farkas has worked on numerous corporate transactions, real estate, energy and environmental matters and spent almost 20 years as Vice President and General Counsel of an Oil and Gas Refining and Marketing company.
His transaction and regulatory experience include land use entitlement and project development (including Brownfield Redevelopment), environmental law compliance (air, water, hazardous waste, Prop 65), defense of enforcement actions, asset and real property sales and acquisitions, and marketing and manufacturing agreements. He has worked on matters involving the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Trade Commission, California Attorney General’s office and most state and local environmental agencies including the SCAQMD and other local air districts.
Steve Farkas has extensive lobbying experience at the federal, state and local levels and has worked on numerous regulatory programs, including AB 32, the Greenhouse Gas initiative, and the federal Renewable Fuel Standard program, RFS2. As General Counsel of an Oil and Gas Independent Refiner with facilities throughout the Western United States, he was responsible for handling audit and compliance programs, enforcement actions, administrative proceedings, and asset sales and acquisitions, including the sale of the company. Steve also supervised all litigation and insurance claims.
Steve Farkas left his General Counsel position six years ago returning to private practice where he counseled numerous clients on real estate matters including the purchase or sale of contaminated property. He worked on a large redevelopment in the Seattle area, and also worked on hazardous waste compliance and permitting issues dealing with lead contamination. More recently, he represented a refinery purchaser seeking additional reimbursement from the prior owners for contamination and also worked on a superfund case related to the clean up of legacy contamination.
Career Highlights
June 2017- June 2019: Partner-Meyers Nave Riback Silver & Wilson, PLC.
2013-2017: Counsel- Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
1995-2013: Vice President and General Counsel Paramount Petroleum Corporation
1990-1995: Mobil Oil Corporation
West Coast Counsel for Mobil Manufacturing
1987-1990: Patton Boggs LLP, Washington, D.C. Senior Associate
Bar Memberships
State Bar of California
District of Columbia Bar (inactive)
The Florida Bar (inactive)
Education
Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, D.C. (J.D. 1983)
Publications and Presentations
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Co-Author, “Update to Federal and California Environmental Agencies’ Steps to Advance Environmental Justice,” Environmental Leader, July 21, 2016
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Speaker, “Coal-Fired Generation - Finding a Path in the Current Regulatory Climate,” S&P Global (formerly SNL Financial) Knowledge Center, August 2014
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Author,“The Future of Exports",Oil & Gas Financial Journal, August 2014
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Author, “US Ban on Oil Exports — An Overview,” Environmental Leader, March 20, 2014
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Author,"CA Has a Problem with Abandoned Wells" GlobeSt.com, March 19, 2018
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Author, "Air quality district plans 'indirect source rules' for NOx", The Daily Journal May 3, 2019
University of Florida
(B.A. With High Honors, 1979)
CONTACT
STEVE FARKAS LAW
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