Marla is an attorney with Environmental Advocates, a small law firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. She represents environmental and community groups in litigation designed to advance conservation and environmental protection.
Marla grew up in Minnesota and fell in love with wildlife and the outdoors after spending her childhood summers at a cabin on a lake in Northwest Wisconsin. She received a BA from Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and lived in Japan for one year while teaching English.
Marla moved to Oregon to attend Lewis & Clark Law School. After law school, she worked at the Northwest Environmental Defense Center doing public interest environmental enforcement litigation. Marla then became a Staff Attorney at WildEarth Guardians, working to protect wild places and wildlife across the West. She also taught undergraduate courses in environmental law at Lewis & Clark College, and an undergraduate course on climate change law at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Marla’s work at the Northwest Environmental Defense Center and WildEarth Guardians often led her to co-counsel with or be a client of Advocates for the West. She is excited to continue collaborating by joining Advocates for the West’s board. Her other board service has included Play Frontier, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and the Washington State Bar Association’s NW Lawyer Editorial Committee. In her spare time, Marla enjoys trail running and exploring the Pacific Northwest with her husband, son, and their two pups.