The Firm hosted the Grand Opening of Iceland America Energy’s North American Corporate Headquarters.  The President of Iceland, the Honorable Oliver Ragnar Grimsson, was joined by the Mayor of Los Angeles, the Honorable Antonio Villaraigosa, the California State Controller, the Honorable John Chiang, the President of the Los Angeles City Council, the Honorable Eric Garcetti, the Secretary of the California Resources Agency, Mr. Michael Chrisman, and the Board of Directors of Iceland America Energy in unveiling the new offices through a press conference focused on Iceland’s, California’s, and Los Angeles’ drive to replace fossil fuel electricity generation with clean power.

The Firm hosted the following important public figures, among others, in separate events:

• United States Senator Barbara Boxer of California,
• United States Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado,
• Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer,
• California State Senator Alan Lowenthal (California Senate Environmental Quality, Transportation and Housing, and Natural Resources and Water Committees),
• California Assemblymember Fran Pavley (author of the nation’s first greenhouse gas emissions reduction law),
• Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,
• Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster,
• Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti,
• The new Speaker of the California State Assembly, Karen Bass, and
• Long Beach Vice Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal.

The Firm held a special reception for FBI Special Agent Herb Brown to welcome him back and to thank him for his service as Bureau Chief for the FBI’s Field Office in Baghdad, Iraq, as well as a Reception for the California Trucking Association.

The Firm, through Tal Finney and Tom Vandenburg, recently co-sponsored a Brownfields Development Seminar in San Francisco.  Featured Speakers at this event included Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, the Assistant Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Director and Chief Counsel for the State of California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the Policy Director for the State of California’s Housing and Community Development Department.  Tal Finney and Tom Vandenburg gave a presentation addressing “Government and Legal Leverage in Redeveloping Brownfields” at this Seminar.