David Cooke is a partner in the Litigation and Environmental Departments of our San Francisco office, and he serves as chair of the firm’s San Francisco office litigation practice group. His practice is concentrated primarily in environmental litigation and environmental regulatory and transactional counseling, with a particular focus on hazardous waste and contaminated property disputes (including federal and state statutory or common law enforcement, contribution, cost recovery, and natural resource damage actions); counseling and negotiations involving the investigation, remediation, disposition and re-use of contaminated properties, groundwater and surface water bodies; regulatory, permitting and enforcement issues and actions arising under the Clean Water Act and related state laws; counseling and regulatory compliance problems under RCRA and the California hazardous waste laws; permitting and variance matters, enforcement actions, and citizen suits under the federal Clean Air Act and state air quality laws; transportation planning and air quality litigation under the federal Clean Air Act; compliance and enforcement matters involving hazardous materials management and release reporting; land use matters under CEQA and NEPA; and environmental insurance and policyholder-side environmental insurance coverage litigation. David’s environmental litigation practice encompasses all phases of litigation, through trial and appeal.
David's practice includes also general commercial and business litigation, often involving real property-related disputes. In addition, his litigation and counseling experience includes a wide range of matters involving such diverse areas as eminent domain, trademark and copyright, admiralty law, construction defects, defamation, personal injury, and prison conditions law.
David was admitted to the California Bar in 1980 and to the District of Columbia Bar in 1991. He is a member of and/or involved in the American Bar Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the California Bar—Environmental Law Section. David is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern and Central Districts of California, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Prior to joining Allen Matkins in 2000, David was a partner at Beveridge & Diamond LLP in San Francisco. He began his legal career with Brobeck Phleger & Harrison, also in San Francisco, where he became a partner in 1988.
David has been has been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers Northern California Editions 2008 and 2009 in Environmental Litigation and as one of the Top 100 Northern California attorneys in 2009.
David was a founding director and officer of Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco, Inc. (ECS), which provides shelter and support services for homeless and impoverished individuals and families in San Francisco. After serving on the ECS board of directors for 17 years, he remains active in the oversight and development of its innovative supportive housing programs.
