Carolyn Nelson Rowan is the editor-in-chief of Miller Starr Regalia’s treatise, Miller & Star, in Miller Starr Regalia’s Walnut Creek office. She also advises clients regarding CEQA, environmental law, land use, and administrative law matters.
Carolyn previously served as Chief Counsel for the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and a Deputy Attorney General in the Natural Resources Law Section of the California Attorney General’s Office, where she advised clients and litigated complex cases involving CEQA and other environmental law matters in state and federal court. Prior to her work at the state, Carolyn was an Assistant Professor of Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis at the University of San Francisco School of Law and an associate in Miller Starr Regalia’s litigation department, litigating and advising clients regarding a range of real estate matters, with a focus on environmental and land use issues.
J.D., University of San Francisco, School of Law, summa cum laude (2005)
McAuliffe Honor Society, (2002-2005)
Articles Editor, Law Review (2004-2005)
Member, Law Review (2003-2004)
Environmental Negotiation Competition Team (2003-2004)
Moot Court, Best Oral Argument Award (2003)
CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for highest mark in Environmental Law, Real Property Law, Real Estate Secured Transactions, Local Government Law, Education Policy and the Law, Evidence, Legal Ethics, and Criminal Procedure
B.A., Political Science, University of California, San Diego (2000)
Presenter, “California’s Proposition 65, Recent Rulemaking Activity,” Chemical Watch Regulator Summit Americas, Washington, D.C., September 2023
Presenter, “California’s Proposition 65 and PFAS U.S Regulatory Update,” Source Intelligence Webinar, May 2023
Presenter, “California’s Proposition 65,” Chemicals Management for Electronics (Europe), December 2022
Editor & Monthly Contributor, California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter, 2009-2010
Co-Author, “When Environmental Review Under the California Environmental Quality Act Becomes ‘Groundhog Day’: What’s a Frustrated Developer to Do? Miller & Starr Newsalert, Vol. 20, No.5, 2010
Author, “Dual Representation and Due Process: Maintaining the line Between Advocate and Advisor in Land Use Proceedings,” California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 19, No.5, February 2010
Author, “Continuous Operation Covenants in California: A Useful Took for Keeping Retail Tenants Open in a Struggling Marketplace?” California Real Property Journal, Vol.26, No.4,2008
Author, “Catching Up with the Green Movement: How Climate Change is Charging the Law in California,” Miller Starr Regalia Newsletter, Winter 2008
Author, “United States v. Atlantic Research Corp.: Supreme Court Lends a Hand to Those Who Voluntarily Clean Up Contaminated Sites, “Miller Starr Regalia Newsletter, Fall 2007
Co-Author, “Low-Impact Development: A growing Trend in Stormwater management,” Builder News Magazine, March 2007
Author, “Traversing the Supreme Court’s Latest Wetlands Decision: Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. United States Army Corps of Engineers,” Miller Starr Regalia Newsletter, Summer 2006
Admitted to practice Law in the State of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal, and the District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, and Central Districts of California
Member, Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of California, (2014-Present)
Cannabis is a multi-billion-dollar industry in California.
Nearly a century ago, and recognizing the courts’ historic hostility toward arbitration agreements, Congress, followed shortly by the California Legislature, adopted laws intended to “favor” arbitration.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has long required a full analysis of project's potential adverse effects on the environment.
Miller Starr Regalia (MSR), a preeminent California real estate and land use law firm for the past 60 years, announced today the return of Carolyn Nelson Rowan, who will serve as the editor-in-chief of legal treatise Miller & Starr, California Real Estate, succeeding longtime editor and shareholder, Karl Geier, when he retires at the end of 2024.