Stephen L. "Steve" Kostka 15YEARSAWARDED

Stephen L. "Steve" Kostka

recognized lawyers icon Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2007
Awarded Practice Areas
Environmental Law Litigation - Environmental
Works at
Ashurst Perkins Coie

243 Best Lawyers awards

Biography

Steve Kostka, senior counsel with the firm's Environment, Energy & Resources practice, has represented clients in a broad range of cases involving the California Environmental Quality Act, the Planning and Zoning Law, and other state and federal environmental and land use statutes. He also has extensive experience counseling public agencies and private clients on land use, CEQA and NEPA compliance issues.

Steve is a co-author of Practice Under the California Environmental Quality Act. This two-volume treatise is relied on by practitioners, planners, environmental professionals and the courts as the leading authority on the interpretation and application of CEQA.
Works at
Ashurst Perkins Coie

243 Best Lawyers awards

Locations

Education

  • University of California Berkeley, graduated 1973

Bar Admissions

  • California, The State Bar of California

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association - Member
  • Contra Costa County Bar Association - Member
  • Resources Agency CEQA Advisory Group - Legal Adviser

Client Testimonials

Awards & Focus

Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2019 - Litigation - Environmental Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2018 - Land Use and Zoning Law Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2016 - Land Use and Zoning Law Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2015 - Litigation - Land Use and Zoning
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
  • Litigation - Environmental, San Francisco (2019)
  • Land Use and Zoning Law, San Francisco (2018)
  • Land Use and Zoning Law, San Francisco (2016)
  • Litigation - Land Use and Zoning, San Francisco (2015)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2027 for work in:
  • Environmental Law
  • Litigation - Environmental
Additional Areas of Practice:
  • Appellate Practice
  • Land Use and Zoning Law
  • Litigation - Banking and Finance
  • Litigation - Land Use and Zoning
Special Focus:
  • Administrative
  • Administrative/Regulatory
  • California Environmental Quality Act
  • Clean Air Act
  • Climate Change
  • Counseling
  • Development
  • Environmental
  • Environmental Permitting
  • Land Use
  • Land Use and Zoning
  • Litigation
  • National Environmental Policy Act
  • Planning
Awards:
  • Listed in Super Lawyers, Northern California 2004 - 2013; one of the top 100 Northern California lawyers, 2008 - 2009
  • The BTI Client Service All-Stars, recognized by corporate counsel as among the leading environmental lawyers in the nation in client service excellence.
  • Selected by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell as a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer for Energy Law, Environmental Law, Land Use Law and Real Estate Law

Case History

Cases
  • Metropolitan Water District Litigation
Successfully defended the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) in litigation contesting the district’s adoption of a water supply allocation plan to implement in the event of a water shortage. MWD supplies water to 18 million people in southern California through a consortium of 26 cities and water districts. The lawsuit, brought by one of MWD’s member districts, challenged adoption of the water supply allocation plan on various grounds, including claims that that MWD failed to comply with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act in adopting the plan.
  • Other Court Admissions
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Your browser is not fully compatible with our automatic printer friendly formatting.

Please use the print button to print this profile page.

Spinning circle Big letter B