Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is pleased to announce that Chris Guillen, a shareholder in its Santa Barbara office, was recognized by the Pacific Coast Business Times as one of its 2022 40 Under 40 honorees. Every year, the publication honors 40 of the region’s up-and-coming business leaders in a special section.
With combined experience in regulation and litigation, Guillen acts as a trusted advisor on complex natural resources projects. His expertise spans the intersection of land use and water law, with a particular emphasis in the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). He relies on his unique experience to provide strategic counsel on all issues pertaining to water rights, including water-related litigation, water transactions, compliance with state regulations and water right permitting issues. His clients range from public water agencies to corporations and private property owners. Guillen also advises landowners, developers, agricultural interests and energy companies on environmental review under CEQA and land use permitting requirements during all phases of project development and litigation.
Examples of his work include: due diligence on housing developments, representing a landowner in a comprehensive groundwater adjudication, challenging overly restrictive land use ordinances, defending cannabis cultivators against appeals of land use permits and helping clean energy developers entitle their projects and withstand litigation when necessary.
He serves on the board of directors of the Coastal Housing Coalition and sits on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.
Guillen will be honored at an awards event on Sept. 22.
To read his 40 under 40 profile, click here.