Mr. Gravelle has nearly 30 years of litigation and transactional experience.

He has handled environmental, real property, breach of contract, fraud, employment discrimination, construction defect, unfair business practices and trade secret cases in state and federal courts, administrative proceedings, arbitrations and mediations.

He also has significant experience with real estate purchase and sale agreements, commercial leases, easement deeds, environmental indemnities, and a host of general business agreements, including licensing and non-disclosure agreements.

Academic Background

• B.S., University of California at Davis, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, 1989.
  With Honors
• J.D., University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), 1993.

Legal Experience

• Hinson Gravelle & Adair LLP (formerly Hinson & Gravelle LLP), 2002 – present.
• McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen LLP (now Bingham McCutchen LLP), 1998 – 2002.
• Texaco Inc., 1993 – 1998.

Mr. Gravelle began his legal career as an in-house attorney for Texaco. While at Texaco, Mr. Gravelle handled a wide variety of cases in federal and state court. His experience at Texaco included extensive client counseling, and responding to federal and state search warrants and subpoenas.

Mr. Gravelle then joined nationally-known McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, LLP, where he primarily handled litigation and transactional matters within the firm’s environmental practice group. He was a member of that group in 2000 when American Lawyer magazine named it one of the three most prestigious environmental practice groups in the United States.

In 2002, Mr. Gravelle co-founded Hinson & Gravelle LLP (the predecessor to Hinson Gravelle & Adair LLP).

Practice Examples

• In a case involving the beneficial reuse of oil-field sump material, Mr. Gravelle and a colleague defended their corporate client (one of only two defendants) against allegations of fraud and violations of environmental statutes and regulations. After a three-month jury trial in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, they obtained a complete defense verdict for their client. The National Law Journal, the nation’s leading weekly legal publication, selected that case as one of the “20 Most Noteworthy Defense Wins” in the United States in 2002.
• Represented a group of more than 50 potentially responsible party (PRP) clients seeking to recover millions in environmental response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
• Defended oil companies in Proposition 65 civil-enforcement actions filed by Orange County and Solano County.
• Negotiated settlement with the California State Water Resources Control Board on behalf of his corporate client for alleged violations of the state’s underground storage tank laws and regulations at multiple sites throughout California.
• Defended and successfully settled a Polano Act lawsuit brought by a large redevelopment agency against his corporate client.
• Successfully defended a contractor client in a construction defect lawsuit during a seven-day trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The judgment in favor of the client was affirmed on appeal.
• Successfully defended a contractor client against a disability discrimination lawsuit. Case won on defense motion for summary judgment.
• On behalf of landlords leasing to national chains, as well as on behalf of tenant clients, successfully negotiated many long-term commercial leases.
• Negotiated purchase and supply agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and other business agreements on behalf of national food manufacturing client.
• Participated in onsite legal response to joint EPA-FBI raid and search warrant execution at client’s industrial facility.
• As in-house counsel for Texaco, managed a docket of underground storage tank claims throughout the western United States, and provided advice to company on a wide variety of transactional matters.

Professional Activities, Affiliations & Profiles

• Judge Pro Tem, Ventura County Superior Court, 2004–2019.
• Arbitrator, Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Services, 2006–present.
• Consul General, Thousand Oaks – Westlake Village Chamber of Commerce, 2004.
• Member, various business and residential advisory committees to Thousand Oaks City Council, 2004–2007.
• Speaker, International Society of Environmental Forensics, “Daubert Challenges and Other Legal Issues Facing Expert Testimony Pertaining to Perchlorate,” Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005.
• Speaker, National Bank of California, “Buying, Selling and Refinancing Contaminated Property,” 2005.
• Profiled in Pacific Coast Business Times’ annual Who’s Who in Professional Servicesas one of the top lawyers in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, 2008–2011.

Admitted to Practice

• Admitted to Practice in California and Hawaii.
• United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
• United States District Courts, Southern, Central, Eastern and Northern Districts of California.
• United States District Court, District of Hawaii.

Outside Activities

Mr. Gravelle is an avid traveler, long-distance runner and open-water swimmer. He has run numerous marathons, including the Lake Tahoe, Kauai, Chicago and Athens (Greece) marathons. He has swum from Alcatraz to San Francisco on several occasions, and in 2011 Mr. Gravelle swam from San Francisco to Marin County beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.