About Paul Hagen
The North Coast Environmental Law Office consists of one attorney, Paul Hagen. I am a well-rounded lawyer with over thirty years of law office experience, including public service, education, and pro bono work in many forms. I have been living and practicing law in Humboldt County since 1999, and opened the North Coast Environmental Law Office here in 2015.
I offer an understanding of how governmental agencies and their regulatory systems work in practice, how to make durable agreements and resolve disputes, and the ability to assist others in getting these things to work for them. In America the government is yours, it exists to serve you. My job is to assist you in making that happen.
I bring a rich and varied set of professional skills and experiences to my practice and my clients, ranging from large firm to solo practitioner, both public agency and private client practice, to enforcement and defense in both litigation and administrative law. If you need something from a government agency or private party, my forte is helping you understand just what it is and how to get it.
Experienced Attorney
Large Firm Regulatory Compliance
From 1989 to 1995 I worked in San Francisco, in the Environment, Health and Safety regulatory compliance practice group of California’s largest law firm. I also composed and taught full-semester Environmental Law classes in Bay Area public universities at night.
Environmental Prosecution
From 1995 to 2006 I served as an environmental prosecutor in four North Coast California District Attorney offices (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino Counties). I formed and ran a Task Force in each county, enforcing environmental, worker health and safety, and unfair business practices laws through both civil and criminal prosecutions including jury trials. Defendants ranged from individuals, “dba’s,” and small business entities to multinational corporations. Throughout this time I trained peace officers and regulatory personnel in environmental enforcement law and procedure from inspections and search warrants to testimony at trial.
Public Law
In 2006 I entered local private practice in Eureka until 2011, with both public and private clientele. Public law work included serving as City Attorney for the Cities of Trinidad, Blue Lake, and Eureka, as contract counsel for the County of Humboldt, and as Counsel for the Shelter Cove Resort Improvement District, my practice addressing a wide array of local government issues. Private client work included Office of Administrative Law defense hearings, and local individuals and business owners with compliance issues.
Public Service
From 2007 to 2016 I served as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Arcata.
Large-Scale, Complex Environmental Remediation
From 2011 to 2015 I worked locally for a firm based in the Central Valley, appearing in federal and state courts in California for clientele around the state ranging from large corporations with extended multi-party industrial sites requiring complex case resolution to single-site, mom-and-pop operations. Cases included federal and state superfund litigation and cost recovery, and soil and groundwater remediation.
Pro bono Public Interest Law Conferences
Between 2008 and 2017 I organized and put on six all-day, pro bono State Bar of California “Your Voice, Your Future” environmental public interest law conferences in Humboldt County. Featuring high-level speakers from this area and around the state, these conferences were custom-tailored to address current issues of importance and discuss solutions unique to the North Coast. You can find information about those conferences in these downloadable PDFs:
