Joseph P. Byrne

Joseph Byrne is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Best Best & Krieger LLP and is the Environmental Law & Natural Resources and Special Districts practice groups leader, and a member of the Business practice group. He provides general counsel services and advises both public and private sector clients on water law and government strategies, and has additional experience in general business law.
 
Joseph serves as general counsel to the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, the Municipal Water District of Orange County, Lake Arrowhead Community Services District, the Rowland Water District and the Upper Los Angeles River Area Watermaster.  In his general counsel capacity he advises clients on a broad range of issues, including: contracts, open meeting laws, the Public Records Act, the California Environmental Quality Act, conflicts of interest, personnel, public works bidding and contracts, and general compliance with state and federal laws. He regularly attends public agency meetings and works closely with elected board members.
 
Joseph also serves as general counsel to the State Water Contractors, an organization that represents 27 public agencies with long-term water supply contracts for State Water Project water. Working together, these agencies provide clean drinking water to more than 27 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland throughout the State.
 
In addition to his general counsel work, Joseph has considerable experience advising public and private clients on various issues related to water, including helping clients secure water supply, negotiating and drafting many types of water-related agreements, analyzing water rights, and advising on regulatory and policy issues. He worked on water policy issues at the State Capitol for a number of years and is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law where he teaches water law. He also taught a water policy class at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Policy.
 
From 2010 to 2019, Joseph served as a member of the California Water Commission, which has a number of statewide responsibilities related to water. He was originally appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, reappointed twice by Gov. Jerry Brown,  and served under Gov. Gavin Newsom until he stepped down in 2019. He served as Commission chair from 2012 until 2017. He is a frequent speaker and panelist at many water-related meetings and conferences throughout the State.
 
In addition to his public sector work, Joseph advises private sector clients on a wide variety of general business law issues, including general litigation, corporations, employment, contracts, licenses and general counsel work.
 
From 1998-2002, he worked in the California State Assembly, serving 2 years as counsel to the speaker of the California State Assembly and as the speaker’s chief policy consultant on water/environment and public safety. He also served as the speaker’s appointee to the California Court Reporters Board and the California Earthquake Authority.
 
He was born, raised and continues to lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Joseph enjoys sports, spending time in the outdoors and learning about California history, especially California’s water history. He also speaks Spanish. He is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.