Alfred E. Smith II

About Alfred

Alfred Smith, Chair of Nossaman's Water Group, is a recognized expert in water and environmental law. A graduate of the Harvard Law School, he has successfully litigated multiple water right adjudications, and he has secured more than $750 million worth of contamination settlements in favor of his clients. He is a trusted advisor on matters involving water rights, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), Colorado River and Pueblo rights, recycled water, water resource development, contamination remediation, groundwater adjudications, water transfers, desalination, conjunctive use, climate change, and environmental regulatory compliance. Alfred has also developed Urban Water Management Plans, water supply assessments and environmental impact reports for a wide range of residential and commercial developments. An experienced General Counsel to multiple government agencies, Alfred is an expert on all aspects of public agency governance, including the Brown Act, Public Records Act, ethics and political law compliance, CEQA, public contracting, construction claims and disputes, and related litigation. Alfred has successfully litigated at all levels. His accomplishments include helping negotiate one of California's largest water contamination mitigation settlements in favor of his clients and winning a unanimous decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. He is an appointed member of the Association of California Water Agencies' (ACWA) Legal Affairs Committee and the Legal Advisory Board for the California Special Districts Association. He was listed as one of Los Angeles's Top 100 Lawyers by the Los Angeles Business Journal and has been named a "Super Lawyer" every year since 2008. In 2016, the Los Angeles Business Journal named Alfred one of the Most Influential Minority Lawyers in the Los Angeles region. In 2022, Alfred was named one of the Best Lawyers in America©.

Practice Areas

Education

• Harvard University, J.D., graduated 1996
• University of California Berkeley, B.A., graduated 1993

Bar Admissions

• California, 1996

Languages