Team
Billy provides counsel on issues regarding natural resources, land use, and environmental regulations, including matters involving wetlands, natural resource damage actions, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Washington Shoreline Management Act, and the Growth Management Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Washington Shoreline Management and Growth Management Acts. He has represented clients on a variety of matters, from national regulatory issues impacting broad–based industry groups to funding agreements for infrastructure projects being developed by public-private partnerships. Billy serves clients in both the public and private sectors, including resource–based organizations such as shellfish growers and terrestrial farmers, states and municipalities, nonprofit organizations, private developers, and industrial clients. Billy has a well-earned reputation for being a strategic thinker and consensus builder when coordinating among interested parties, including multiple agencies with jurisdiction over an issue.
Billy’s experience includes serving as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Environmental Defense Section. He has appeared before numerous state and federal trial courts and courts of appeal, as well as various Washington State administrative tribunals, including the Growth Management Hearings Board, the Pollution Control Hearings Board, the Shorelines Hearings Board, and numerous local governmental bodies. Billy’s practice also includes facilitating diverse stakeholder groups working toward shared solutions to complex environmental challenges, including serving as chair of the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damages Trustee Council from 2014-2015. Early on in Billy’s career, he clerked for the Honorable Frank J. Polozola, U.S. District Court – Middle District of Louisiana.
Billy lectures extensively on various environmental, land use, and administrative law issues.
Awards/Recognitions
- The Best Lawyers in America: Environmental Law, 2013-2023; Land Use and Zoning, 2017-2023; Natural Resources, 2010 - 2023
- Washington Super Lawyers, 2010-2023
- Lawyer of the Year in Natural Resource Law in Seattle by the Best Lawyers in America, 2021
Publications & Presentations
- Shoreline Development & Permitting in Washington State, Seattle WA June 3, 2022
- Deepwater Horizon Update, Coastal Law in Louisiana, Speaker, New Orleans, LA April 21-22, 2022.
- Federal and Washington State Permitting and Regulatory Update, Speaker, 75th Annual Shellfish Growers Conference and Tradeshow, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association and National Shellfisheries Association – Pacific Coast Section, September 20 – 22, 2021.
- Growers Association and National Shellfisheries Association – Pacific Coast Section, September 20 – 22, 2021.
- Ecological Restoration in the Gulf Coast: Lessons Learned, Ecosystem Restoration, Speaker, Law Seminars International, April 14, 2021.
- Deepwater Horizon 10 Years Later: Lessons Learned for Restoration Planning, Speaker, Natural Resource Damages, Law Seminars International, December 10-11 2020.
- Federal Shoreline Permitting, Speaker, Shoreline Development & Permitting, Co-Chair, The Seminar Group, Seattle, WA June 6-7, 2019.
- Deepwater Horizon Updates, Speaker, 2nd Annual Coastal law in Louisiana: Deepwater Horizon Updates, Speaker, The Seminar Group, New Orleans, LA, March 14-15, 2019.
- Deepwater Horizon Settlement panelist, Health and Environmental Settlement Projects Workshop, State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, New York University School of Law, New York, NY, March 12, 2019.
- Litigation Update: Regulation of Discharges of Pollutants Under Section 402, Speaker, Clean Water and Stormwater, Law Seminars International, August 16-17, 2018.
- Deepwater Horizon Update, Speaker, Coastal Law in Louisiana, The Seminar Group, New Orleans, LA, March 1-2, 2018.
- Shoreline Regulation in Washington State: Marine Shorelines, Rivers and Lakes, Co-Chair, The Seminar Group, Seattle WA, June 1-2, 2017.
- Case Studies: Update on Status and Implementation Challenges for Several Large NRD Matters, Speaker, Natural Resources Damages, Law Seminars International, Washington, DC, March 23-24, 2017.
- The Deepwater Horizon Case: Lessons Learned for the Future of NRD, Speaker, Natural Resources Damages, Law Seminars International, Washington, DC, March 10-11, 2016.
- Shoreline Regulation in Washington State: Marine Shorelines, Rivers and Lakes, Co-Chair, The Seminar Group, Seattle, WA, May 1, 2015.
- NRD Litigation: Lessons from Recent Cases, Speaker, Fourth Annual Advanced Conference on Natural Resource Damages, Law Seminars International, Washington, DC, March 12 – 13, 2015.
- The Gulf Oil Spill: State Law Preemption and Implications for Washington, Speaker, 2014 KCBA Environmental & Land Use Law Section Meeting, Seattle, WA, May 21, 2014.
- State Trustees: Current NRD Issues and Trends at the State Level, Speaker, Third Annual Advanced Conference on Natural Resource Damages, Law Seminars International, Washington, DC, February 6 – 7, 2014.
- Ecosystem Services: Using public-private partnerships to Stimulate Market Development, Speaker, 67th Annual Shellfish Conference and Tradeshow, Sunriver, OR, September 30 – October 3, 2013.
- Water Quality and Salmon: Pesticides, Fertilizers, Heat and Finding Balance, Speaker, Seminar on Resolving Conflicts Between Agriculture and Fish, Law Seminars International, Yakima, WA, April 15, 2013.
- Deepwater Horizon: Assessment Status and Lessons Learned (So Far), Speaker, Conference on Natural Resource Damages, Law Seminars International, Washington, DC, January 26 – 27, 2012.
- The Gulf Oil Spill: Implications for the Puget Sound, Speaker, 2011 Environmental and Land Use Law Section Midyear Meeting and Seminar, Union, WA, April 28 – 30, 2011.
- Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Regulatory Processes Facing Shellfish Growers,
- Speaker, 63rd Annual Shellfish Conference, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association and National Shellfisheries Association – Pacific Coast Section, Chelan, WA, September 29 – October 1, 2009.
- Permitting Marine Aquaculture Projects and Nuts and Bolts of Permitting a Marine Shoreline Project, Speaker, Marine Shoreline Development and Permitting, Co-Chair, Law Seminars International, Seattle, WA, February 4, 2009.
- Update on New Permits, Regulations, Legal Issues, Speaker, 62nd Annual Shellfish Conference, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association and National Shellfisheries Association – Pacific Coast Section, Chelan, WA, September – October 3, 2008.
- Marine Shoreline Development and Permitting, Co-Chair, Law Seminars International, Seattle, WA, February 1, 2008.
- Law, Science, and Politics: Staying Alive in the Regulatory Labyrinth, Speaker, 61st Annual Membership Meeting and Shellfish Growers Conference, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association/National Shellfisheries Association, Portland, OR, October, 2007.
- National Trends in Shellfish Aquaculture Productions, Policy, and Regulation – Planning and Regulatory Tools for Coastal Planners, Speaker, NOAA, Coastal Zone 2007, Portland, OR, July 25, 2007.
- Legislation and Regulation for Marine Aquaculture, Speaker, NOAA, National Marine Aquaculture Summit: Aquaculture 2007 – Making It Work for America, Washington D.C., June 26 – 27, 2007.
- Marine Aquaculture: A Growing Business, Speaker, Environmental Law Institute, Washington D.C., February 6, 2007.
- Marine Aquaculture: A Growing Business, Speaker, Environmental Law Institute, Washington D.C., February 6, 2007.
- Urban Growth Area Battles – Déjà vu All Over Again, Speaker, Growth Management in Washington, Law Seminars International, Seattle, WA, November 15 – 16, 2004.
- Growth Management Act Requirements Regarding Siting/Operation of Essential Public Facilities, Speaker, Regulatory Requirements and Permitting of Essential Public Facilities, The Seminar Group, Seattle, WA, November 9, 2004
- Agriculture and Clean Water Issues, Speaker, Clean Water and Stormwater Conference, Law Seminars International, Seattle, WA, March 20 – 21, 2003.
- What are the Courts Doing to Define GMA?, Speaker, Washington Land Use Law, Law Seminars International, Seattle, WA, April 22 – 23, 2002 and April 19 – 20, 2001.
- Road Map to the Revolution: A Practical Guide to Procedural Issues Before the Growth Management Hearings Boards, Author, 23 Seattle University Law Review 71, 1999.
