David Frederick Stearns

David focuses his practice primarily on environmental litigation, water rights, and regulatory defense. He represents clients in cost recovery actions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), in land use appeals, and in construction defect claims.

David brings a wealth of experience from his previous position as an assistant attorney general in the Ecology Division of the Washington Attorney General’s Office (Ecology) where he advised clients on complex environmental and natural resource issues, and litigated a variety of matters before the Pollution Control Hearings Board, including water quality penalties, conditional no exposure certifications, and water right relinquishment orders. David has handled cases through all phases of litigation from taking expert depositions to arguing before the state court of appeals. David also has significant experience with the energy facilities site locations act and the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

David honed his legal writing during law school as a judicial extern for Judge Stephen Dwyer on Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals. David also volunteered for the Thurston County Bar Association’s Housing Justice Project, where he helped tenants facing imminent eviction.