Background
Ms. Weis received a B.A. degree in biology from Baylor University in 1987, where she was a National Merit Scholar, followed by an M.S. degree in biology from the same institution in 1990. After spending a few years doing doctoral work in ecology at the University of Georgia and its affiliated Savannah River Ecology Lab, where she was the recipient of a University-wide Fellowship, Ms. Weis obtained her J.D. from Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College, in 1997.
While in law school, Ms. Weis obtained a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law, earned a spot on the law school’s National Environmental Law Moot Court Team two years in a row (1996 & 1997), served on the Moot Court Board, and held the position of Articles Editor for Environmental Law. Upon graduation, Ms. Weis was inducted into the Cornelius Honor Society, an honorary organization of Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College.
Representative Work
Indian Law
Kootenai Tribe of Idaho. Representation of natural resource interests of Tribal importance in a variety of contexts, including District of Oregon’s long-running Federal Columbia River Power System litigation, ESA litigation in the District of Montana and Idaho Roadless Rule litigation in Idaho District Court and in the Ninth Circuit.
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. Representation of Tribe in context of ongoing cooperative Natural Resource Damage Assessment process involving the Portland Harbor Superfund Site.
Metlakatla Indian Community. Assisted the Tribe in successful defense of Pacific halibut fishery rule promulgated by the National Marine Fisheries Service for the guided sport charter fishery in certain Alaskan waters.
Environmental Law
Wildwest Institute v. Bull, 547 F.3d 1162 (9th Cir. 2008). Represented a coalition of local governmental entities and individuals, both in Montana District Court and in the Ninth Circuit, in successful defense of the first litigated Healthy Forest Restoration Act project, which was designed to protect an at-risk community in Montana
Lands Council v. McNair, 537 F.3d 981 (9th Cir. 2008). Worked with noted forest products attorney Scott Horngren on seminal Ninth Circuit en banc case involving proper role of deference to agency expertise in environmental and natural resources law arena.
Butte-Silver Bow County, Montana. Successful defense in Montana District Court and Ninth Circuit of hazardous fuel reduction project designed to protect important municipal watershed supplying pristine drinking water to the local community.
Alaska Forest Association. Successful defense in Alaska District Court and Ninth Circuit of Tongass National Forest timber sale project of critical importance to Association members, also defense of Tongass Exemption to the 2001 Roadless Rule.
American Forest Resource Council. Representation of nonprofit corporation and its members in numerous public lands and environmental cases in Oregon, Washington, Montana and Idaho involving such laws as NEPA, NFMA, the CWA, ESA, FLPMA and the APA, often in the context of northern spotted owl issues or other wildlife concerns.
|
Related Articles & News
Julie Weis, Intervention as of Right in NEPA Cases – Ninth Circuit Returns to the Fold, 42 ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Trends No. 5, p.12, May/June 2011
Julie Weis, Reversing Course: Ninth Circuit Abandons the “Federal Defendant Rule” for Intervention in National Environmental Policy Act Cases, OSB Environment & Natural Resources Law Section, E-Outlook, Environmental Hot Topics and Legal Updates, January 2011
Julie A. Weis, The Ninth Circuit Strikes Again: Logging Roads Ruled to Require Clean Water Act Permits, Western Forester, November/December 2010, at 16-17.
Julie A. Weis, Eliminating the National Forest Management Act’s Diversity Requirement as a Substantive Standard, 27 Envtl. Law 641 (1997).
Julie Weis, Does Your Logging Road Need a Clean Water Act Permit? Thanks to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Answer May Be Yes, Northwest Woodlands, p. 22, Summer 2011.
Julie Weis and Paul Adams, New Water Quality Controls Affecting Woodland Owners in Oregon’s Coastal Zone, Northwest Woodlands, p. 23, Summer 2011.
Community Involvement
Ms. Weis is committed to serving the community in which she lives. She currently serves on the advisory board of the Quest Center for Integrative Health, a nonprofit holistic health center having roots in the AIDS epidemic 20+ years ago that now serves all who either are living with life-challenging illnesses or who simply seek to live well and fully. Previously Ms. Weis chaired the Quest Center board for about a decade. Ms. Weis also is a former long-time chair and secretary of the Administrative Council of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Southeast Portland and a regular volunteer judge for Lewis and Clark Law School moot court environmental law competitions.
