Jeff Forrest is a partner in the San Diego office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP. He is a member of the Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental Practice Group and Chair of the firm's Imperial Valley Committee.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Forrest's practice includes complex land use planning, obtaining entitlement approvals, and land use litigation defense for clients such as the Hotel Del Coronado, Pardee Homes, Brookfield Homes, solar and renewable energy developers (Tenaska, NRG, Canergy, and Enbridge), Allied Waste, the Building Industry Association, Citigroup, Comerica Bank, Black Mountain Ranch, Sudberry Properties, and Donahue Schriber.

Mr. Forrest specializes in counseling compliance with and litigating the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), California Coastal Act, Subdivision Map Act, Mitigation Fee Act, Endangered Species Act, and global warming laws and regulations.

In doing so, his land use work covers all aspects of advising and representing residential, industrial and commercial developers through all phases of the land use regulatory process, including real estate due diligence investigations; negotiating development agreements, easements, annexation agreements, water supply assessments, and environmental permits; processing land use entitlements, and appearing before governmental agencies and commissions.

Prior to joining Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, he served in the U.S. Congress as the Legislative Director & Counsel to Congressman Mike Castle following the Congressman's terms as Delaware's Governor. In Congress, he focused on bankruptcy reform, financial services modernization, corporate governance, environmental, appropriations and tax legislation.

Mr. Forrest is a registered lobbyist with the City of San Diego, the County of San Diego, and San Diego Regional Airport Authority, and the San Diego Port Authority.