Managing Partner Eric Garner practices water rights and supply law at Best Best & Krieger LLP. He works on surface water and groundwater issues throughout California. For the past two decades, he has worked extensively on groundwater matters. He represented the lead parties in the Santa Maria and Antelope Valley groundwater adjudications, is involved in the Las Posas and Ventura River adjudications and also was involved in the Mojave Groundwater adjudication. He was involved in drafting the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and testified before the state Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Water on adjudication reform legislation. He has drafted water laws in South Africa, Trinidad and Pakistan and worked with the United Nations Environmental Programme on incorporating environmental issues into water laws, the World Bank on groundwater issues in the Middle East and North Africa and was the first American Chair of the International Bar Association’s Water Law Committee.
 
Eric co-authored “California Water,” “California Water II” and “California Water Third Edition,” and is an adjunct law professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. He was also named a California Lawyer of the Year by California Lawyer magazine, one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, the Water Law Lawyer of the Year in Los Angeles by Best Lawyers and MVP of the Year by Law360. He is licensed to practice law in the State of California.
 
Water Resource

• Eric represented County of Los Angeles Waterworks District No. 40 in the Antelope Valley Groundwater Adjudication Proceedings — the largest groundwater rights case in California history. The trial court judgment includes approximately 70,000 landowners, including two separate classes. The judgment determines who has the right to pump water from the Antelope Valley groundwater basin and establishes a long-term sustainable management plan. The litigation was complex not only because of the number of parties and the size of the area, but due to the fact that the U.S. government, as the largest landowner in the region, was a party to this State Court proceeding under the McCarran Amendment.
• In City of Santa Maria v. Adam, et al, Eric successfully represented the City of Santa Maria in a large and complex case involving the adjudication of water rights to groundwater, imported water and salvaged water in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. This case was chosen by the State of California as a pilot project for innovative online case management programs, which has since become standard in many jurisdictions.
• Represents the City of Paso Robles on both surface and groundwater issues, including defending the City’s groundwater rights in a lawsuit brought by landowners
• Represents the City of Ventura on surface and groundwater issues, including adjudications of both sources 

Law Firm Leadership

Eric has held the managing partner position at BB&K since 2005 and is now serving his seventh term. Elected by the partnership, the managing partner oversees all aspects of the firm’s operations in all offices. Under Eric’s leadership, BB&K has grown substantially and is an industry leader in innovation and diversity, all of which have earned accolades from the legal community and the press. These include:

• Mergers of three law firms, including the opening of BB&K’s first out-of-state office in Washington, D.C., as well as substantial geographic and practice area expansions. Repeated recognition for workforce diversity, including a No. 1 ranking for minority representation at the equity partner level by American Lawyer Media and No. 1 for Best Law Firm for Women and Minorities among mid-sized U.S. firms by Law360.
• Integration of technological advances into all aspects of firm operations, from marketing and accounting to client-facing applications and websites.
• A holistic focus on staff and attorney wellness through firm-sponsored trainings and seminars that focus on mindfulness, work-life balance and health. 

Education

• University of Michigan Law School, J.D.
• Earlham College, B.A. with honors

Admissions

• California