A partner in Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.'s Los Angeles location, Jeff Margulies heads the firm's California environmental and climate change practices. His practice involves a diverse array of state, federal and international environmental, product safety, chemical management and related regulatory issues, and encompasses compliance, enforcement and litigation, including class action litigation. Jeff's areas of concentration include:

• Air - regulatory compliance, enforcement, and litigation under the Federal and California Clean Air Acts
• California Proposition 65 - compliance and enforcement defense for manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and facilities
• Chemical and pesticide regulation - compliance with REACH, green chemistry, FIFRA, California formaldehyde ATCM, and related laws
• Climate change and carbon regulation - legislative, regulatory, litigation and risk issues associated with cap and trade and other greenhouse gas regulatory mitigation programs and technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration
• Environmental compliance and litigation - transactional support, contaminated property and groundwater, and toxic exposures
• Litigation and class actions - defense of false advertising and product compliance litigation
• Product safety - compliance and enforcement for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers involving the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, Federal Hazardous Substances Act, Flammable Fabrics Act

Selected recent and ongoing representations include:

Air:

• Representing national trade association in challenge to adoption of emissions regulations by South Coast Air Quality Management District
• Representing supplement manufacturer in enforcement over permit violations

Proposition 65:

• Defending manufacturer of paper clips over claims of exposure to lead in paper clips
• Represented numerous retailers and distributors in industry-wide settlements over lead and phthalates in fashion accessories
• Representing supplement manufacturer in negotiations with California Attorney General over modification of "lowest feasible" levels of lead in calcium supplements and multivitamins
• Representing multiple retailers and distributors in enforcement action over claimed exposures to cadmium in jewelry
• Representing retailers in enforcement action over claims of exposures to phthalates in sporting goods

Chemical and Pesticide Regulation:

• Representing chemical manufacturer in all aspects of REACH compliance
• Representing distributor over alleged violations of California pesticide registration requirements

Climate Change:

• Advising an emissions verification company on the liabilities associated with verifying GHG emissions
• Analysis of potential for mandatory carbon emissions regulations and costs and liabilities associated of the carbon sequestration aspects of proposed oil shale development project

Product Safety:

• Representing retailer in enforcement action over alleged failure to report defective products to Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Advising retailer in all aspects of product safety compliance, including developing comprehensive vendor manual
• Representing retailer in multi-state enforcement over allegedly excessive lead in jewelry

Class Actions:

• Defending retailer over claims of requesting personal identification information in connection with credit card transactions
• Defending food producer over claims of deceptive packaging
• Defending olive oil producer in multiple class actions over claims of deceptive advertising of the quality of the oil as extra virgin

• Environmental Law360 Editorial Advisory Board (2011)
• California State Bar - Environmental Section
• Los Angeles County Bar Association - Environmental Section
  • Executive Committee (2006 - Present)
• Prop 65 Clearinghouse Editorial Board (2005 - Present)
• International Consumer Product Health & Safety Organization

• Chambers and Partners USA (2008 - present)
• "Southern California Super Lawyer," Law & Politics (2004 - present)
• Best Lawyers in America (2008 - present)

• Co-author, "Court Rulings Conflict on Retailer Liability for Collecting ZIP Codes During Credit Card Transactions in California," Fulbright Briefing, January 3, 2012
• Co-author, "EPA Finalizes Tailoring Rule for Stationary Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Fulbright Alert, May 14, 2010
• "California Court Finds Air Pollution Control Districts Lack Authority to Force Use of Non-Existent Technology: 'Science Fiction is Not Substantial Evidence',"
  Bloomberg Law Reports, 2010
• "Regional GHG Regulation – Full of Hot Air? " Environmental Law360, February 10, 2010
• Co-author, "EPA Finalizes Endangerment and Cause and Contribute Findings—Regulation of GHG Emissions Appear Imminent," Fulbright Alert, December 8, 2009
• Co-author, "Following Second Circuit's Lead, Fifth Circuit Revives GHG Mass Tort Claims," Fulbright Briefing, October 26, 2009
• Co-author, "EPA Proposes PSD and Title V Thresholds for Greenhouse Gases—Expects Permitting Requirements to Trigger in March of 2010," Fulbright Briefing, October 2, 2009
• "Global Emissions Reduction Will Require Local Sacrifice," Executive Counsel, May-June 2009
• Co-author, "EPA Announces Proposed Endangerment Finding for GHGs—Standards for Mobile Sources Expected," Fulbright Alert, April 20, 2009
• Ninth Circuit Should Reject California's Legal Claim That Autos Are A 'Public Nuisance,'" Legal Backgrounder, Vol. 23, No. 45, October 10, 2008
• "California Releases Blueprint for Combating Climate Change," Fulbright Alert, June 27, 2008
• "The EU Reaches Out to Regulate Chemicals and Products Exported by US Manufacturers and Distributors," Fulbright Briefing, June 11, 2008
• "A Perspective on the First 20 Years of Proposition 65: A Long, Strange Trip Indeed," Environmental Law News, Vol. 17, No. 1, Spring 2008
• "Court Dismisses California's Global Warming Suit Against Automakers," Fulbright Briefing, September 21, 2007
• "US Climate Change Science Program Provides Updated Predictions on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Scenarios," Fulbright Briefing, August 6, 2007
• "California Threatens Lawsuit Over EPA Failure To Act On Clean Air Act Waiver For Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Fulbright Alert, June 15, 2007
• "UN Panel Releases Recommendations on Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Fulbright Alert, May 7, 2007 

• "Climate Change—Cap & Trade/Legislative Update & Nuisance Litigation,"  2010 Environmental Law Update Seminar, Houston, TX, October 12, 2010
• "REACH; What Management Needs to Know." Adhesives & Sealants Council Annual Fall Convention, Cincinnati, OH, October 4, 2010
• "Key Environmental Policy Drivers for Renewables Development."  Law Seminars, Inc. Seminar, Minneapolis, MN, August 19, 2010
• "Pesticide Regulation in the Central Valley."  Law Seminars, Inc. Seminar, San Francisco, CA July 19, 2010
• "Current Federal Developments in Climate Change Legislation and Regulation,"  Fulbright Forum Web Seminar, June 8, 2010
• “Climate Change Post-Copenhagen: Where Do We Go From Here?” Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P./Norton Rose Group Web Seminar, January 28, 2010
• "Cap and Trade Update," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. 2009 Environmental Law Update Seminar, Houston, TX, October 13, 2009
• "Managing Your Carbon Footprint: A Practical Roadmap," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Seminar, Los Angeles, CA, June 19, 2009
• “California Proposition 65: Foods are Under Siege!” Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, June 8, 2009
• "The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act: Breaking Developments," Web Seminar, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., February 19, 2009
• "What is a Carbon Footprint, and What Does it Mean to You?," Los Angeles County Bar Association Real Property Section, Los Angeles, CA, January 28, 2009
• "Cradle to Cradle: From Proposition 65 to a New Paradigm in Green," Los Angeles County Bar Association Environmental Law Section, Los Angeles, CA, January 28, 2009
• "Energy in Transition: Energy Policy under a New Administration." Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Conference Call Seminar, January 8, 2009 
• "Climate Policy: At the Crossroads of Change," Seminar, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. & Cerrell Associates, Los Angeles, CA, October 30, 2008
• "REACH Update," National Paint & Coatings Association Suppliers Committee, Washington, D.C., September 18, 2008
• "REACH: Compliance and Emerging Issues," Web Seminar, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., Adhesives and Sealants Council, July 28 and 29, 2008
• "Only Representatives and Confidentiality: Protecting Your Business and its Confidential Information in the REACH Registration Process," U.S. Mission to the EU, Web Seminar, June 24, 2008
• "Update on California Administrative Agency Activities," Land Use and Climate Change Seminar, Law Seminars, International, Los Angeles, CA, June 16, 2008
• "REACH: The New EU Chemical Regulation and Its Impact on US Manufacturers," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. 2008 Environmental Law Update Seminar, Houston, TX, May 6, 2008
• "Consumer Product Safety: A World of Challenges," Web Seminar, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., April 22, 2008  
• "International Policy Update: The Future of the Kyoto Process," Law Seminars, International, Arlington, VA, April 14, 2008
• "Global Environmentalism Warming," National Paint & Coatings Association Industrial Coatings Committee, Pittsburgh, October 30, 2007
• "Carbon Capture and Sequestration: Technologies and Legal Issues" Web Seminar, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., November 15, 2007
• "The Evolving Landscape for Safe Consumer Products: Guidance for Manufacturers, Importers, and Retailers in Current and Prospective Regulatory Requirements and Best Practices" Web Seminar, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., November 7, 2007
• "Climate Change Means Business Change" Seminar, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., Los Angeles, July 9, 2007
• "REACH: Legal Implications for U.S. Companies," U.S. Department of Commerce REACH Symposium, Houston, TX, June 8, 2007
• "Global Warming Mitigation Measures: From Global Theory to Local Action," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. 2007 Environmental Law Update Seminar, Houston, TX, May 23, 2007

Jeff is a frequent lecturer on Proposition 65, and a contributor to the annual conferences held by Prop 65 News and Prop 65 Clearinghouse. 

1986 - J.D., Villanova University School of Law
1982 - B.S., Psychology, Duke University

While in law school, Jeff was a member of Law Review and the Order of the Coif. He is admitted to practice law in California, the Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern Districts of California, the Central District of Illinois and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals Third Circuit and Ninth Circuit.

Jeff enjoys his iPad and iMac, college and professional basketball, digital photography and all kinds of music.