B.J. Kirwan retired from the partnership in December 2005 with more than twenty-five years experience. A member of the Environment, Land & Resources Department in Los Angeles, Ms. Kirwan is experienced in the areas of air and water pollution counseling, permitting and enforcement matters and Proposition 65 matters. In addition, she represented companies and trade associations in rule-making proceeding throughout the state and secured regulatory approvals for development projects.
Ms. Kirwan joined Latham & Watkins in 1989 as a partner in the Los Angeles office. Prior to joining Latham, she was a founding partner of McClintock, Kirwan, Benshoof, Rochefort & Weston and, before that, a partner at McCutchen, Black, Verleger and Shea. Before entering practice, Ms. Kirwan served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Francis C. Whelan, United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Ms. Kirwan was actively involved in the environmental bar. She is a past Chair of the Environmental Controls Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. She has served as Vice Chair of the Air Quality Committee and Chair of the Environmental Quality Committee of the ABA's Natural Resources Section. Ms. Kirwan has been a member of the ABA's Standing Committee on Environmental Law and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Proposition 65 Clearinghouse. At the time of her retirement, she had been voted by her peers to be listed in the Best Lawyers of America for 10 years straight and was repeatedly listed as one of the best environmental lawyers in Chambers USA since the publication's inception.
In 2005, she was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to serve on the board of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. She served on California EPA Secretary Strock's Blue Ribbon Unified Environmental Statute Commission. She also is a member of the Governing Board of the California Chamber of Commerce and Chair of its Air and Waste Committee. She is a Board member of the Westridge School for Girls, Planned Parenthood of Pasadena and Sandyland Protective Association.