Patrick Maloney was quoted in a recent Law 360 article detailing the latest round of a dispute between rival developers and the applicability of California’s Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to a high stakes RICO claim. The matter before the 9th Circuit Court of appeals concerns Los Angeles hotel developer Relevant Group LLC’s appeal of a lower court’s decision that a rival developer was shielded from racketeering claims by CEQA’s Noerr-Pennington doctrine.

Relevant Group’s appeal drew a response from a coalition of environmental interest groups. The groups argue the California Legislature has sought to balance CEQA to allow for public participation in the environmental review process. Overturning the lower court’s ruling and allowing for an exception to the Noerr-Pennington doctrine might have a chilling effect on individuals thinking about filing future CEQA complaints.

Patrick Maloney praised the environmental interest group’s brief in comments to Law360 Thursday, underscoring that Relevant should bring its concerns about the CEQA process to the California Legislature instead of the courts. Read the full article on Law 360 here.

< See all News / Events