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.
President, Harned Strategies LLC
Karen Harned is President at Harned Strategies LLC. Previously, she served as Executive Director of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, a post she held from 2002-2022. Prior to joining the Legal Center, Ms. Harned was an attorney at a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in food and drug law, where she represented several small and large businesses and their respective trade associations before Congress and federal agencies. She also served as Assistant Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma from August of 1989 to March of 1993. Ms. Harned received her B.A. from the University of Oklahoma in 1989 and her J.D. from The George Washington University National Law Center in 1995. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.
As Executive Director of the NFIB Small Business Legal Center, Ms. Harned commented regularly on small business cases before federal and state courts, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. She has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, NBC Nightly News, CNN, CNBC and MSNBC, as well as National Public Radio, CBS Radio, and radio outlets across the country. Her opinion editorials and articles regarding healthcare, lawsuit abuse, regulation, and other issues important to small business have been published in newspapers and other publications nationwide.
Ms. Harned has testified before Congress on the small business impact of regulation and the civil justice system. Additionally, she has conducted numerous webinars and legal compliance seminars for small business owners across the country on issues relating to employment law, including unionization and immigration.
WOTUS comes to SCOTUS: Oral Arguments heard in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Company - Podcast
Can the Feds keep the courthouse doors closed to you when they have effectively frozen...
WOTUS comes to SCOTUS: Oral Arguments heard in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Company
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co.
Background Imagine you own a plot of land. You may want to build a house...
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New Article: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes
Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys Damien Schiff and Mark Miller published an article in the Federalist Society Review...
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc.: Wetlands Jurisdictional Determinations and the Right of Federal Judicial Review
Damien Michael Schiff
Note from the Editor: This article discusses U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes, a...
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Members of Congress File Amicus Brief in Opposition to EPA's Clean Power Plan
On February 23, 2016, the Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen....
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Enough Is Enough: Justice Scalia, Auer Deference, and Judicial Duty
It is one of the most fundamental principles of Anglo-American law: No person may be...
EPA, Climate Change, & the Supreme Court
Karen Harned
Karen Harned, Executive Director of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center...
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SCOTUS Issues Stay on EPA's Clean Power Plan
In a significant setback to the Obama administration’s climate agenda, five Supreme Court justices prevented...
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The Supreme Court Learns a Lesson
In a highly unusual action on Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered EPA to halt...