In 2004, IVAN TETHER launched Tether Law, where he continues his legal practice of over three decades, specializing in environmental law. He advocates for and advises clients on environmental issues — before public agencies and in negotiations with regulators, prosecutors, individuals and private companies.
He is also very active in resolving clients' air quality compliance issues in the LA area and the San Joaquin Valley. At two California environmental law firms and a major energy company, Mr. Tether represented clients before air quality hearing boards for over 120 variance petitions, in the South Coast, Ventura, Kern County and Santa Barbara. He represented Southern California Gas Company in trial and appellate litigation with the South Coast Air Quality Management District over its Hearing Board's jurisdiction, a dispute favorably resolved by the California Legislature. He and a colleague successfully negotiated with the US Environmental Protection Agency for 190 clients over hazardous waste cleanup. His environmental practice includes cases in air quality, water quality, hazardous waste, and Prop 65.
Ivan also has significant experience representing clients in property contamination lawsuits, and other matters related to hazardous waste, particularly California's "Proposition 65". Ivan's experience strengthens his ability to negotiate and avoid litigation. If litigation is essential, he can refer the Client to the strong litigation team of Stoel Rives.
In Washington, DC, before his 1987 move to Los Angeles, Mr. Tether worked at a private environmental think tank; as a broker of emission rights for industrial expansion; at a Congressional commission; and at the US Environmental Protection Agency (where he received EPA's highest award for helping to cut industry's compliance costs and regulatory delay).
Mr. Tether is the LA environmental chair of the California Independent Petroleum Association and is CIPA’s representative for the California Small Business Alliance, where he has served twice as president. He is a former trustee and environmental law section chair of the LA County Bar Association, and remains active on the section's executive committee. He graduated from Union College and Georgetown University Law Center. He is admitted to practice in California, before the Central, Eastern and Northern Districts of the Federal District Courts in California, and in the District of Columbia (inactive).
Professional Activities and Memberships
- The State Bar of California and the District of Columbia Bar (currently inactive, former member of Section of Environment, Energy & Natural Resources)
- California Small Business Alliance, President twice since 2008.
- Former Vice Chair, Special Committee on Sustainable Development and Global Climate, American Bar Association
- Los Angeles County Bar Association ( Member, Board of Trustees, 2000-2003; Chair, Environmental Law Section, 1999-2000, currently member of the executive committee of the Environmental Law Section)
- California Independent Petroleum Association, LA Environmental Affairs Committee Chair, former Board member
- Group Leader, Experiment in International Living, France, Summer 1973 (responsible for 12 high school students)
- Lectured classes at Princeton, Cornell and the University of Maryland, mid-1980’s
Honors
- Gold Medal, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Who's Who in American Law/ in California
Selected Publications, Reports & Presentations
- Presented paper on environmental regulatory policy to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), Paris, France, 1985: The Promotion and Diffusion of Cleaner Industrial Process Technologies in the United States, Paper presented to the Group of Economic Experts, OECD, November 1985.
- Proposition 65 Issues Paper, prepared for the California Independent Petroleum Association, presented, Bakersfield, CA, February 2002.
- Environmental Liabilities, Seminar in Advanced Real Estate Law in California, National Business Institute, Pasadena, January 2001 (Albert M. Cohen prepared materials, Ivan Tether made presentation).
- New Frontiers for the Push and Pull of Federalism – Implementation of the Clean Air Act's Operating Permit Program in Southern California, 29 Environmental Law Reporter 10757 (December 1999), with Robert S. Nicksin. (Copies available from Tether Law.)
- Avoiding the Full Monty – or How to Not Lose Your Shirt in Air Quality Inspections, Presentation at the Energy Resource Center, The Gas Company, in Downey, CA, September 1997 and to the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Long Beach, CA January 2006.
- Palm Trees, Pinstripes, Pollution & Prison: Criminal Environmental Enforcement in California, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Air & Waste Management Association, Vancouver, British Columbia, June 1991.
- Environmental Policy in a Federal System – the United States and the European Community, Seminars with Senior Environmental Officials from the Netherlands and the US, Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA (participant and LA organizer), Fall 1989.
- California's Proposition 65 – Legal Roadmap and Regulatory Update, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Air & Waste Management Association, Anaheim, CA, June 1989.
- Will a Final Policy Rejuvenate the Bubble? 4 Environmental Forum, No. 11 (March 1986) (Reprinted in the July 1986 edition of Plant Services).
- Environmental Law Institute State & Local Energy Conservation Series: Government Procurement and Operations (Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company 1978).
Language
- English, French, and sufficient Spanish to communicate.
Civic Involvement
- Member, Board of Directors, My Friend's Place, drop-in center for youth without homes, Hollywood, CA (also volunteer and coordinate volunteers). www.myfriendsplace.org
- Member, Mountain Bike Unit, Santa Monica National Recreation Area (first responders to medical emergencies)
- Former Member, Board of Directors, Housing Options for People to Excel (HOPE), (partnered to build transitional living center for women and children in Venice, CA).
- Church-led Work-Study trips to Nicaragua, 1995, 1997, 1998.