Peter Hsiao

Peter Hsiao has 38 years of experience as a first-chair trial lawyer. He was named Environmental Litigation Attorney of the Year in Los Angeles by Best Lawyers in America, and one of 16 lawyers named as a Distinguished Environmental Advocate by the American Bar Association. He is one of seven lawyers in the U.S. designated as a Global Leader in Environmental Law by Who's Who Legal. The National Law Journal identifies him as a Trailblazer in Energy and Environmental Law, and he is named by Chambers, Legal 500, Lawdragon and Super Lawyers as one of the nation’s best environmental lawyers.

Mr. Hsiao is head of the West Coast Environmental, Health & Safety Practice resident in Los Angeles. Drawing upon his chemical engineering background, he is one of the nation’s leading attorneys in environmental, natural resources, climate change and toxic tort law. He is a Fellow and Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Environmental Lawyers. He is also former Chair of the State Bar of California's Environmental Law Section and a former member of the ABA's Standing Committee on Environmental Law.

He served as senior trial lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles. He was lead trial counsel for the EPA and other agencies, and received the Department of Justice’s Special Commendation Award, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Achievement Award, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Golden Eagle Award. He was appointed as a judge pro tem for the Los Angeles Municipal Court and served as a mediator for environmental cases.

Mr. Hsiao is the editor of the California Environmental and Natural Resources Law Handbook. He is past-president of the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Counsel for Justice. He is a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation, former chair of the State Bar of California Committee on Legal Services to the Poor, and recipient of the Wiley W. Manuel Award for pro bono legal services.

He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Utah in 1982. He received the Outstanding Student Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985, where he won the McBaine Advocacy Award.