Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
David (Dave) Breemer developed a passion for liberty while reading classics such as John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government and Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man, as he pursued a Master’s Degree in American Political Theory at University of California, Davis. During this time, Dave began to believe that individual freedom and choice is a God-given and inviolable gift that cannot be taken away through governmental power.
Dave then traveled throughout North America for several years as an adventure tour guide, discussing American ideas of freedom with groups of young people form Europe, Australia, and Japan while rafting, skydiving, and hiking in places like Monument Valley, Las Vegas, and Alaska.
In 1998, Dave went to law school at the University of Hawaii where he studied and co-authored several property rights-oriented law reviews with Professor David L. Callies, a noted land use authority. In 2001, Dave graduated summa cum laude from law school, second in his class, and returned to California to work as an attorney for PLF.
Since joining PLF, Dave has worked as an attorney in PLF’s property rights group. In that capacity, he has litigated numerous federal and state court cases vindicating constitutional rights, particularly those related to the ability to use and enjoy private property. Examples include: Knick v. Township of Scott, U.S. Supreme Court No. 17-647; MVA v. Minnesota, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 16-1435; Levin v. City and County of San Francisco, 71 F. Supp. 3d 1072 (N.D. Cal., 2014); Sansotta v. Town of Nags Head, 724 F.3d 533 (4th Cir. 2013); Severance v. Patterson, 390 S.W.3d 705 (Tex. 2012); Severance v. Patterson, 566 F.3d 490 (5th Cir. 2009); Crown Point Dev., Inc. v. City of Sun Valley, 506 F.3d 851 (9th Cir. 2007).
In his time at PLF, Dave has also written many law review articles about the Supreme Court’s property rights jurisprudence. He continues to believe that property rights are vital to securing other rights—such as privacy, self-expression, and financial freedom—and as a result, he continues to be passionate about securing the right to use and enjoy property for all Americans in the courts of this nation.
State of California Attorney General's Office
Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law and Economics Center, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Donald Kochan is Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center (LEC). Professor Kochan is an elected member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and serves as an Adviser to ALI's Restatement of the Law Fourth, Property project. Professor Kochan is a Nonresident Scholar at the Center for the Constitution at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a Visiting Scholar in residence during Fall 2018. Before joining the Antonin Scalia Law School faculty, he was the Parker S. Kennedy Professor in Law at Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law from 2004 to 2020. From 2003 to 2004, Professor Kochan was an Olin Fellow at the University of Virginia School of Law. During 2002-2003, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason’s Scalia Law School.
Professor Kochan’s scholarship focuses on areas of property law, constitutional law, administrative law, local government law, natural resources and environmental law, and law & economics. He has published several books and more than 50 scholarly articles and essays in well-regarded law journals. His work has been cited in more than a dozen state and federal court opinions, in more than 75 briefs filed in state and federal courts including more than 25 filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, in dozens of books and treatises, and in more than 800 scholarly articles.
Professor Kochan received his JD from Cornell Law School, where he was a John M. Olin Scholar in Law and Economics and managing editor of the Cornell International Law Journal. During law school, he also served as editor and executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy symposium issues in 1997 and 1998. He received his BA from Western Michigan University, magna cum laude, with majors in both political science and philosophy, where he studied as the John W. Gill Medallion Scholar and was honored as the Presidential Scholar (awarded to the top graduate in the political science department).
After graduating from law school, Professor Kochan was a law clerk to The Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Professor Kochan was an associate with the firm of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in natural resources & environmental law as well as tort, products, and consumer civil litigation & legislative affairs.
Senior Legal Counsel, Pacific Legal Foundation
Before becoming an attorney, James had been a productive member of society working as an exploration geologist in the late 1970s throughout the southwestern United States. However, after several years of dealing with irrational government bureaucrats and environmental policies untethered from reality, James decided that what the world needs is more lawyers — if they are willing to fight for rationality in regulatory regimes, property rights, and liberty.
James attended the University of Arizona College of Law in Tucson, where he served as an editor for the Law Review and received a J.D. degree in 1983. He had previously received a Masters degree in geological sciences from Brown University and an undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in New York. James received the Professional Achievement Award from the University of Arizona Alumni Association in 2018.
James has worked with Pacific Legal Foundation since 1983, litigating cases from Alaska to Florida. He is a member of the Federalist Society’s Environmental Law and Property Rights Practice Group’s Executive Committee, a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and an honorary member of Owners Counsel of America, an organization comprised of eminent domain attorneys who represent property owners. The Owners Counsel awarded James its Crystal Eagle award in 2013. In 2022, James was awarded the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize at the William & Mary College of Law. The prize is awarded annually to an individual whose work has advanced the cause of property rights and has contributed to the overall awareness of the important role property rights occupy in the broader scheme of individual liberty.
In 2001, James successfully argued a major property rights case, Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, before the United States Supreme Court, a case which affirmed that rights in regulated property do not disappear when land is bought and sold. He has written extensively on all aspects of property rights and environmental law and frequently speaks on these subjects throughout the nation.
When James is not suing the government he enjoys skiing faster than he should, bicycling, hiking, swimming, and spending quality time with his wife, family, and grandchild.
Mr. Burling’s book Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America’s Housing Crisis is available now on Amazon.
James is a member of the bar only in the states of Alaska and California.
Fellow, College of Public Interest Law, Pacific Legal Foundation
Mr. Middleton joined the Pacific Legal Foundation as a Fellow in the College of Public Interest Law in 2007. His practice mainly focuses on environmental law, and he has authored briefs in important Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act cases. He is also authoring an article on injunctive relief under the Endangered Species Act.
Mr. Middleton is a member of the state bar of California and is admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. He grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and attended Saint Louis University and The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Damien Schiff is a senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. He leads its environmental practice group, a unique initiative that draws broadly from PLF’s expertise and success in property rights and separation of powers litigation. Over the years, Damien has represented hundreds of landowners and property rights advocates to defend their liberties against heavy-handed and unwarranted environmental and land-use regulation. His litigation experience includes Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a groundbreaking decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of landowners to challenge Clean Water Act compliance orders issued by EPA, and Contoski v. Norton, PLF’s successful effort to force the federal government to make good on its promise to delist the bald eagle from the Endangered Species Act.
Besides litigation, Damien has written academic articles on a variety of subjects, including the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, greenhouse gas torts, the duty to rescue, and international water law. He has appeared on a variety of television and radio programs and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Magazine, and The Economist, among other publications.
He obtained his law degree magna cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law, and his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Georgetown University. While at USD, he was a research assistant for Professor Bernard Siegan, a leading constitutional theorist and advocate for property rights and economic liberty. Immediately prior to joining PLF, Damien clerked for Judge (and former PLF attorney) Victor Wolski of the United States Court of Federal Claims. Damien credits the mentoring and examples of Professor Siegan and Judge Wolski for his decision to pursue a career in liberty-based public interest litigation.
Damien lives in Sacramento with his wife, two young sons, four chickens, and a cat named Princess. In his off hours he enjoys stamp collecting, Gregorian chant, and martinis—preferably at the same time.
Principal Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Sharon L. Browne is a principal attorney in Pacific Legal Foundation's Individual Rights Practice group. She is an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer. Her practice focuses on litigation at all court levels to prohibit government from utilizing race or sex based discrimination or preferences in public contracting, employment or education. She was actively involved in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County, Ky Board of Education as an amicus and sat second chair during oral argument before the United States Supreme Court to assist the attorney arguing on behalf of Crystal Meredith.
Ms. Browne was named a California Lawyer of the Year in 2004 for her achievements in defending and implementing Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative, which ended race- and sex- based discrimination and preferences in public contracting, public employment, and public education. A few of her cases include Hi-Voltage Wire Works v. San Jose, 24 Cal. 4th 537 (2000), a unanimous judgment of the California Supreme Court interpreting Proposition 209, the voter approved initiative, which amended the California Constitution to prohibit race- and sex-based discrimination and preferences in public education, public employment, and public education; Crawford v. Huntington Beach Union High School District, 98 Cal. App. 4th 1275 (2002), the first case to apply Proposition 209 to K-12 public education; and C & C Construction v. Sacramento Municipal Utility District, 122 Cal. App. 4th 284 (2004), the first case to interpret Proposition 209's federal funding exception.
Principal Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Sharon L. Browne is a principal attorney in Pacific Legal Foundation's Individual Rights Practice group. She is an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer. Her practice focuses on litigation at all court levels to prohibit government from utilizing race or sex based discrimination or preferences in public contracting, employment or education. She was actively involved in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County, Ky Board of Education as an amicus and sat second chair during oral argument before the United States Supreme Court to assist the attorney arguing on behalf of Crystal Meredith.
Ms. Browne was named a California Lawyer of the Year in 2004 for her achievements in defending and implementing Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative, which ended race- and sex- based discrimination and preferences in public contracting, public employment, and public education. A few of her cases include Hi-Voltage Wire Works v. San Jose, 24 Cal. 4th 537 (2000), a unanimous judgment of the California Supreme Court interpreting Proposition 209, the voter approved initiative, which amended the California Constitution to prohibit race- and sex-based discrimination and preferences in public education, public employment, and public education; Crawford v. Huntington Beach Union High School District, 98 Cal. App. 4th 1275 (2002), the first case to apply Proposition 209 to K-12 public education; and C & C Construction v. Sacramento Municipal Utility District, 122 Cal. App. 4th 284 (2004), the first case to interpret Proposition 209's federal funding exception.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Partner, FisherBroyles LLP
Paul Beard II is an environmental and land-use partner with FisherBroyles LLP.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Chapman Visiting Associate Professor of Law
Federal Courts Standards for Ripeness and Takings Claims
J. David Breemer, Daniel L. Siegel, Donald J. Kochan
Justiciability doctrines, particularly ripeness, have a particularly important role in takings challenges to permitting decisions. ...
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James S. Burling, Brandon Middleton
On June 22, 2009, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Coeur Alaska v. Southeast...
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Damien Michael Schiff
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SCOTUScast 7-6-09 featuring Sharon Browne
Sharon L. Browne
On Monday, June 22, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility...
SCOTUScast 5-21-09 featuring Sharon Browne
Sharon L. Browne
On Wednesday, April 29, 2009, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Northwest Austin Municipal...
SCOTUScast 4-9-09 featuring Timothy Sandefur
Timothy Sandefur
On Tuesday, February 24, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education...