Lindsay Thane helps individuals and businesses of all sizes throughout the Northwest resolve disputes and navigate permitting processes through strategic and substantive counsel on water rights, natural resource, and environmental issues. Lindsay’s environmental compliance and due diligence work, coupled with her experience litigating disputes and negotiating solutions with regulatory agencies, helps her identify the distinctions that are critical to reaching her clients’ goals.

During law school, Lindsay was an extern for Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. Lindsay also served as an intern with the Solicitor’s Office for the Department of the Interior in Portland, Oregon, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance in Washington, D.C., and for former Montana Senator Max Baucus in Washington, D.C.

Bar Admissions

• Montana State Courts
• Oregon State Courts
• U.S. District Court, District of Montana
• U.S. District Court, District of Oregon
• Washington State Courts

Education

• University of Oregon, Bachelor of Arts degree, Political Science, cum ‎laude (2013)
• University of Montana School of Law, Juris Doctor degree and certificate in Natural ‎Resources and Environmental Law (2016)‎

• Achieved a favorable jury verdict in a negligence and contract dispute involving a failure ‎to deliver irrigation water that caused crop losses.‎
• Advised a private water company in a sale to a large utility company, including ‎conducting a water rights due diligence analysis, integrating findings into the purchase ‎and sale agreement, and providing continued advice on water right compliance.‎
• Assisted a large U.S. coal producer in multi-state acquisition of coal assets by navigating ‎state and federal environmental permitting requirements.‎
• Assisted applicants in obtaining water rights (storage, groundwater, surface water), ‎transfers, permit amendments, extensions, and groundwater modifications from the ‎Oregon Water Resources Department.‎
• Represented companies in resolving enforcement actions from the Oregon Department of ‎Environmental Quality and negotiating a regulatory path for continued operations.‎

• Clean Water Act Coverage – Another Revised WOTUS Rule
• Clean Water Act Assurances Under Attack
• Water Rights: Hydro to Instream
• How to Plan for West Coast Offshore Wind Development Opportunities
• Opportunities for Offshore Wind Development on the West Coast
• Nine Water Rights Tools For Oregon Farms And Ranches Facing Drought
• HB 4116: Harmful Algal Bill (Updated 3/10/2022)
• Oregon Supreme Court Holds Hydroelectric Water Rights Case
• Environmental Enforcement and Regulatory Updates
• Oregon Court of Appeals Holds Hydroelectric Water Rights Do Not Automatically Convert to Permanent In-Stream Rights When Temporarily Leased for In-Stream Purposes
• With EPA Approval, Landowners May Bring State Law Claims for Remedial Action in Addition to Ongoing Superfund Cleanup
• COVID-19: Impacts on Environmental Compliance, Inspections, and Enforcement (Updated 05/7/2020)
• Court Finds Oregon Water Resources Department Exceeded Authority to Regulate Wells
• Expect Faster Cleanups and Redevelopment of Brownfield Properties with New VCP Law
• Water Banks: Why You May Need One

Seminar

• Oregon Water Use Management and Water User Tools in Drought Conditions
• Water Law Issues for Farmers in Drought Conditions