Kerry Shapiro chairs the Firm’s Natural Resources and Mining Group and co-chairs its Construction and Building Materials Group. He also leads the Firm’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department in the San Francisco office. He has represented the mining, construction and building materials industries on mineral extraction and land development projects for over 25 years, providing legal services on government, land use, environment, and natural resources matters, at federal, state, and local levels. Kerry has extensive experience working with SMARA, CEQA, the Mining Law of 1872, NEPA, FLPMA, the Mineral Materials Act, both Federal and California Endangered Species Acts, and the Clean Water Act, in relation to various entitlements processes, public land transactions, administrative appeals, and related litigation.
Kerry's experience has included securing land use approvals for the largest federally-authorized sand and gravel project in the United States, and obtaining the only mining vested rights confirmation ever issued from the State Mining and Geology Board for the largest aggregate deposit in California. Kerry also has successfully represented mining companies before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and state courts of appeals on mining, CEQA and federal endangered species matters, including published decisions on leading edge Endangered Species Act and CEQA issues.
Kerry currently serves as General Counsel to the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA), and chairs the Association's Legal Action Committee. He received CalCIMA's 2011 Spirit of the Industry Award, for participation in negotiations on California SB 108 legislation relating to idle mines. He has given presentations to numerous industry, government and professional groups including U.S. Department of the Interior, and American Association of Professional Landmen.
J.D., University of California Hastings College of the Law, 1987
B.A., Oberlin College, 1982
Phi Beta Kappa
General Counsel, California Construction and Materials Association (CalCIMA), 2013-2014
Member, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association
Member, Environmental Law Section, State Bar of California
Member, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
Chair, CalCIMA Legal Committee, 2010-2014
Chair, CalCIMA Associates Subcommittee, 2009-2011
- Recipient of CalCIMA's 2011 Spirit of the Industry Award, for participation in negotiations on California SB 108 relating to idle mines.
- Recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer, 2016-2020
- Recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America® for 2021
- State Water Board Announces Intent to Enforce 2019 Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material as "State Policy"
- Biden Administration Temporarily Suspends Authority of Department of the Interior Bureaus and Offices
- Court Limits State Water Board's Application of 2019 Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to "Waters of the State"
- California Energy Commission Appoints Nine Members of Blue Ribbon Commission on Lithium Extraction
- "Finality" and the Next Frontier of Takings Litigation
- State Water Board Announces Intent to Enforce 2019 Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material as "State Policy" State Water Board Announces Intent to Enforce 2019 Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material as "State Policy" By Kerry Shapiro, Martin
- Biden Administration Temporarily Suspends Authority of Department of the Interior Bureaus and Offices By Kerry Shapiro and Martin Stratte On January 20, 2021, President Biden's first day in office, Acting Secretary of the Interior Scott de la Vega