Alisha M. Winterswyk

Partner

Alisha Winterswyk is a partner in the firm's Environmental and Natural Resources practice group. Her practice centers on advising public and private clients on an array of state and federal environmental laws, with a specific expertise on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). She regularly counsels clients on the substantive mandates of CEQA/NEPA and procedures that must be satisfied during the administrative process; she also defends those clients in the event the agency's action is challenged in court. Throughout her career, Alisha has reviewed and/or drafted hundreds of CEQA-related documents.

In her land use practice, Alisha advises public and private clients on complex land use matters involving the Planning and Zoning Law, the Subdivision Map Act, the State Mining and Reclamation Act, the Cortese-Knox Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and other related laws. Most recently, she assisted a large-scale solar developer in securing land use permits for a use that, at the time, was not contemplated by the local jurisdiction's zoning code or general plan. 

Alisha teaches California environmental law at Whittier Law School one semester each school year. She has also taught state and local government law at Western State University School of Law. In the fall, Alisha guest lectures at University of San Diego to a class focused on environmental assessment. Alisha also regularly gives presentations on CEQA and land use to various professional organizations. Over the past several years, she has contributed as a panelist to several AEP basic and advanced CEQA workshops. 

Alisha is the current president of the Orange County Association of Environmental Professionals and is a member of the Legislation Committee for the California State Bar, Environmental Law Section. Each year Alisha has coached or advised a team of law students who participate in the State Bar's Annual Environmental Negotiations Competition.

In 2005, Alisha obtained her law degree, magna cum laude, from Whittier Law School. While in law school, she served as the editor-in-chief of the Whittier Law Review and she was a member of the Moot Court Honors Board. Alisha was a judicial law clerk to the late Honorable Presiding Justice David G. Sills of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Three. In her free time, Alisha enjoys being with her family, rock climbing, mountain biking, quilting, knitting and reading. 

Education

• Whittier Law School, J.D., magna cum laude (2005)
• Whittier College, B.S.

Bar Admissions

• California (2005)

Awards

• Super Lawyers “Southern California Rising Star,” Environmental (2013-2015)

Memberships

• State Bar of California Environmental Section Executive Committee, member