People
Mike Leslie is an accomplished trial lawyer and negotiator who focuses on complex environmental litigation, including litigation brought under CERCLA, CEQA, common law environmental torts, and California’s Proposition 65. Mike is the leader of the firm's Environmental Justice Initiative and has published and spoken widely on the topic. Mike also has deep expertise in complex commercial litigation, having prevailed in cases involving real estate, class actions, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, and Section 17200, California’s unfair business practices statute.
Mike has a long-standing record of successfully representing clients in the litigation and trial of high-stakes complex actions. Mike regularly represents Fortune 500 corporations, multinational energy companies, governmental agencies, and small businesses. He has tried numerous cases to verdict, negotiated complex multi-party consent decrees with state and federal agencies, and won both significant plaintiff and defense verdicts. In addition to his busy trial practice, he has also won important appeals for his clients before the California Court of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mike is a leader in many of the leading environmental bar organizations and is also a frequent speaker on complex litigation and trial practice:
J.D., Stanford Law School
B.A., Dartmouth College, summa cum laude
California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Judicial Clerk, Hon. A. Wallace Tashima, Central District of California
Chair, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Environmental Law Section (2018); Vice-Chair, Treasurer (2014-2017); Executive Committee (2006–present)
Co-Chair, American Bar Association Litigation Section's Mass Environmental/Toxic Torts Subcommittee (2009–present)
Executive Committee, American Bar Association, Energy & Environmental Litigation Committee (2009-present)
Executive Committee, California State Bar Environmental Law Section (2014–2017); Treasurer (2016–2017); Advisor (2017-present)
Member, American Bar Association – Litigation Section
Member, California Lawyers Association
Member, Federal Bar Association
Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association – Litigation and Environmental Law Sections
June 6, 2024
King & Spalding Earns 198 Lawyer Rankings, 90 Practice Group Rankings in Chambers USA Guide
June 1, 2023
Chambers USA 2023 Recognizes 186 K&S Lawyers and 84 K&S Practice Groups as Leaders in Their Fields
Substituted into a complicated enforcement action as lead trial counsel a mere ten days before trial at the request of the State of California. Working with the California Attorney General’s office, Mike and the team represented the California Air Resources Board in the trial of an enforcement action brought against a major vehicle and engine manufacturer. The manufacturer had brought a cross-claim against the agency, alleging regulatory and constitutional violations, and seeking sweeping injunctive and declaratory relief, including dismissal of the enforcement action. After multiple witnesses and days of trial, the manufacturer agreed to dismiss its cross-claim with prejudice and to pay CARB almost $2 million, plus an additional amount to be suspended conditioned upon the manufacturer’s future compliance with the engine emissions certification laws, thus resolving the case.
Obtained a defense verdict after a five-week jury trial in federal court in San Francisco. As lead trial counsel, Mike represented a multinational energy company against claims for compensatory damages of $25 million, as well as punitive damages, brought by a local governmental body that had been compelled to clean up wastes left over when its tenant, an oil recycler, went out of business. After only two hours of deliberation, the jury rendered a complete defense verdict in our client’s favor, awarding the plaintiff nothing. After the plaintiff appealed, Mike argued the case before the Ninth Circuit and won an opinion affirming the defense judgment in all respects.
Represented a large energy company in a ten-week jury trial involving claims by a land company for cleanup of hydrocarbon contamination after substituting into the action a mere three weeks before trial. Although the plaintiff went to the jury with a damages claim of almost $70 million—raised to more than $120 million at trial—and also asserted a claim for punitive damages, Mike won a nonsuit on the punitive damages claim and obtained a jury verdict for his client on two out of the three areas of contamination at issue. The award on the remaining plume—after the verdict was reduced by more than $14 million on Mike’s successful appeal—was $3.9 million, almost $20 million less than the plaintiff’s pretrial settlement demand.
See more
June 12, 2024
Beyond the Fenceline: Environmental Justice Updates – June 2024
February 27, 2024
What Recent Setbacks In Court Mean For Enviro Justice
February 15, 2024
Key Recent Developments In Environmental Justice Litigation
June 6, 2024
King & Spalding Earns 198 Lawyer Rankings, 90 Practice Group Rankings in Chambers USA Guide
June 1, 2023
Chambers USA 2023 Recognizes 186 K&S Lawyers and 84 K&S Practice Groups as Leaders in Their Fields
Substituted into a complicated enforcement action as lead trial counsel a mere ten days before trial at the request of the State of California. Working with the California Attorney General’s office, Mike and the team represented the California Air Resources Board in the trial of an enforcement action brought against a major vehicle and engine manufacturer. The manufacturer had brought a cross-claim against the agency, alleging regulatory and constitutional violations, and seeking sweeping injunctive and declaratory relief, including dismissal of the enforcement action. After multiple witnesses and days of trial, the manufacturer agreed to dismiss its cross-claim with prejudice and to pay CARB almost $2 million, plus an additional amount to be suspended conditioned upon the manufacturer’s future compliance with the engine emissions certification laws, thus resolving the case.
Obtained a defense verdict after a five-week jury trial in federal court in San Francisco. As lead trial counsel, Mike represented a multinational energy company against claims for compensatory damages of $25 million, as well as punitive damages, brought by a local governmental body that had been compelled to clean up wastes left over when its tenant, an oil recycler, went out of business. After only two hours of deliberation, the jury rendered a complete defense verdict in our client’s favor, awarding the plaintiff nothing. After the plaintiff appealed, Mike argued the case before the Ninth Circuit and won an opinion affirming the defense judgment in all respects.
Represented a large energy company in a ten-week jury trial involving claims by a land company for cleanup of hydrocarbon contamination after substituting into the action a mere three weeks before trial. Although the plaintiff went to the jury with a damages claim of almost $70 million—raised to more than $120 million at trial—and also asserted a claim for punitive damages, Mike won a nonsuit on the punitive damages claim and obtained a jury verdict for his client on two out of the three areas of contamination at issue. The award on the remaining plume—after the verdict was reduced by more than $14 million on Mike’s successful appeal—was $3.9 million, almost $20 million less than the plaintiff’s pretrial settlement demand.
See more
June 12, 2024
Beyond the Fenceline: Environmental Justice Updates – June 2024
February 27, 2024
What Recent Setbacks In Court Mean For Enviro Justice
February 15, 2024
Key Recent Developments In Environmental Justice Litigation
June 6, 2024
King & Spalding Earns 198 Lawyer Rankings, 90 Practice Group Rankings in Chambers USA Guide
June 1, 2023
Chambers USA 2023 Recognizes 186 K&S Lawyers and 84 K&S Practice Groups as Leaders in Their Fields
J.D., Stanford Law School
B.A., Dartmouth College, summa cum laude
California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Judicial Clerk, Hon. A. Wallace Tashima, Central District of California
Chair, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Environmental Law Section (2018); Vice-Chair, Treasurer (2014-2017); Executive Committee (2006–present)
Co-Chair, American Bar Association Litigation Section's Mass Environmental/Toxic Torts Subcommittee (2009–present)
Executive Committee, American Bar Association, Energy & Environmental Litigation Committee (2009-present)
Executive Committee, California State Bar Environmental Law Section (2014–2017); Treasurer (2016–2017); Advisor (2017-present)
Member, American Bar Association – Litigation Section
Member, California Lawyers Association
Member, Federal Bar Association
Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association – Litigation and Environmental Law Sections