We like to say that we are small, but mighty. Our role as counsel on some of the largest and most controversial wind and solar facilities in the country speaks to the outsized footprint we have in the legal marketplace.
Small firm, big results
We offer top-tier legal services with the focus, flexibility, and dedication of a small law firm.
Deliberately different
While our experience and credentials are similar to those of our big-firm counterparts, the similarities end there: our style of representation is intentionally different.
We see the law as an important means to a commercial goal, not as an end in itself. Our most common strategic target is a successful project financing, not simply ensuring defensibility in court.
Like other firms, we frequently appear before agencies and engage opponents on behalf of our clients. But our persona is more that of a diplomat than a soldier. This deliberate style has allowed us to reach understandings with some of the most difficult project opponents in California’s renewable energy sphere.
We frequently hear from agency and opposition representatives that, while tenacious, we are easier to work with than others in the field. We have seen this make a material difference between fast and slow, easy and difficult, allowing our client’s projects to outpace their competitors. That said, we do not hesitate to employ a fiercer approach if it brings the best tactical value for the client.
Direct, Earnest, Astute. Interesting, even.
Our achievements have attracted extraordinary legal talent that is hard to find in any firm. The result is an unusually strong bench of lawyers whose sole professional ambition lies not in the ranks of the firm, but outside it, with the client.
Andrew C. Bell
Zachary A. Kearns
Alexa M. Shasteen
Reed J. McCalib
Our attorneys are graduates of the nation’s elite law schools. They have served as partners and associates at world-class law firms, law clerks on the U.S. Court of Appeals and state supreme courts, and fellows at international nonprofit organizations. They have been recognized by publications such as U.S. News and World Report® and Super Lawyers®, serve as editors of legal publications, and regularly publish articles on key developments in environmental and land use law. They are also surfers and whitewater enthusiasts, yoga instructors and jazz musicians.
Representative Matters
Bell Kearns is proud to represent many of the world’s leading renewable energy companies. We have advised on the permitting of projects ranging from 5 to 500 megawatts throughout California and the Western United States. We have also advised on substations, shopping malls, event centers, and a variety of other development projects faced with a complex permitting environment.
