Environmental Law and litigation

Davina Pujari

Davina Pujari is a partner with Barg Coffin Lewis & Trapp, LLP. She specializes in environmental and white collar criminal defense and civil environmental litigation.

Davina is an experienced trial attorney who has worked for 17 years in environmental and criminal law, handling complex matters in federal and state court. In public and private practice, Davina has tried more than 20 cases to jury or bench verdict. Davina is also an expert in regulatory and administrative forums, having worked as an enforcement attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. and represented companies in administrative enforcement and penalty actions.

Just prior to joining Barg Coffin, Davina was a Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Special Prosecutions Division of the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. There, she led the Environmental Justice Initiative, working with state, federal and local agencies to investigate violations of air, water and hazardous waste laws. Many of those cases, by their nature, involved related white-collar offenses such as false reports and fraud. Davina had previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California (San Francisco), in the White Collar Crimes and Major Crimes Units. As a federal prosecutor, Davina investigated and prosecuted cases involving violations of the Lacey Act, Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act.  Davina also prosecuted and tried cases involving bribery, false statement, fraud against the government, identity theft and use of the internet for criminal purposes.

Davina gained significant experience representing Fortune 500 companies in criminal and civil environmental litigation as an associate and partner at Landels, Ripley & Diamond, LLP, where she began her San Francisco practice in 1996. At Landels, Davina represented oil, chemical, mining and biotech companies in actions brought by U.S.E.P.A., the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and Regional Water Boards and Air Districts. Many of these cases involved parallel civil and criminal proceedings, multiple investigating agencies and complex legal and scientific issues.

Davina's environmental and white collar criminal cases have included:

• Representation of company and employees in District Attorney investigation of alleged water quality violations (resulting in non-prosecution)
• Representation of individual in prosecution for alleged natural resource crimes in state court (resulting in dismissal)
• Representation of chemical company during parallel criminal/civil and state/federal inviestigation for labeling and marketing violations under pesticide laws
• Representation of employee in investigation and prosecution under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, for alleged dumping of oil in ocean  

Davina's work in complex civil environmental litigation includes:

• Representation of oil company in toxic tort litigation involving hundreds of plaintiffs, while also defending company in civil and criminal actions filed by environmental agencies
• Counseling biotech company regarding privileged internal investigation of possible violations of environmental laws governing use and reporting of chemicals
• Defense of environmental citizen suits for violations of the Clean Water Act, mining waste laws, California's Proposition 65 and federal hazardous waste laws
• Representation of chemical companies in allocation disputes under CERCLA and RCRA
• Defense of companies in administrative enforcement actions brought by state, federal and local environmental agencies for air, water and hazardous waste violations

Honors

• Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney (2002)
• Certificate of Appreciation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, for outstanding efforts in Project Exile/Triggerlock II (2001)
• Certificate of Appreciation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, for outstanding contributions (2001)
• Recognition, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, for efforts in wildlife conservation (2001)
• Recognition, Point Reyes National Seashore, for prosecution of resource destruction (2001)
• Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services (1999)
• Medal for Commendable Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1994)

Education

• Lewis & Clark Law School, J.D., Natural Resources Concentration, 1992
• North Carolina State University, B.A., 1988

Representative Matters

• Representation of chemical company during parallel criminal/civil and state/federal investigation for labeling and marketing violations under pesticide laws
• Representation of individual in prosecution for alleged natural resource crimes in state court. Dismissal was obtained.
• Representation of company and employees in District Attorney investigation of alleged water quality violations. No criminal charges were filed.
• Conducted an internal investigation for a local public utility regarding an alleged threat of workplace violence

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