BB&K Pays Tribute to the Late Arthur Littleworth, Former Senior Partner

For Immediate Release: October 20, 2021
Media Contact: Bethany Chieffallo • (202) 370-5302 • bethany.chieffallo@bbklaw.com
 
It is with great sadness that Best Best & Krieger LLP announces the passing of firm partner Arthur L. Littleworth. Littleworth was a community leader, one of the nation’s preeminent water law attorneys and a published author.

“Art will be greatly missed and we extend our condolences to the Littleworth family,” said BB&K Managing Partner Eric Garner. “Art’s impact here was and is enormous. Those of us who had the privilege of knowing and working with him can attest to his unique and amazing qualities.” 

Littleworth practiced in BB&K’s Riverside, California office for nearly 70 years. During his career, he participated in all aspects of water law and was respected for his impact on California’s water law and policy. He co-authored the widely read Solano Press book “California Water” with Garner in 1995, and published updated versions in 2007 and 2019. He was listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Energy, Environmental, Natural Resources & Water Law for 27 consecutive years and named one of the Daily Journal‘s Top 100 Lawyers in California in 2003.

Some of Littleworth’s noteworthy matters:

• Appointed by the United States Supreme Court as Special Master to hear a case of original jurisdiction between the states of Kansas and Colorado involving the Arkansas River.
• Represented  for many years the State Water Contractors and their 20 million users who receive water from the State Water Project in the Bay-Delta hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board, and in related litigation and extensive statewide settlement negotiations.
• Represented local water users in the Mono Lake litigation.
• Represented the East Bay Municipal Utility District in a major lawsuit challenging the District’s contract with the Bureau of Reclamation to take water from the American River, and more recently in environmental litigation challenging that several hundred million dollar project.
• Represented Rancho California Water District in litigation with the U.S. Justice Department concerning the water rights of the Marine Corps and Camp Pendleton.
• Represented the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District in negotiations concerning the water rights of the Soboba Band of Mission Indians on the San Jacinto River.
• Acted as lead counsel for Riverside County defendants in an action involving more than 1,000 parties brought by the downstream Orange County Water District to adjudicate all water rights within the Santa Ana River watershed.

Littleworth’s BB&K colleagues fondly recall the ways in which he shaped the firm and Riverside community, noting he was a “truly outstanding” individual with a “great heart and wonderful spirit” and he “embodied the very principles of BB&K: grace, professionalism, understanding, public service and quiet strength.”

Littleworth earned his L.L.B. and B.A. from Yale University, and his M.A. from Stanford University.

Littleworth’s full obituary can be found here.