- J.D. Golden Gate University, 1999
- B.A. in Ethnic Studies and B.A. in Legal Studies, University of California at Berkeley, 1994
- State Bar of California, California Lawyers Association, Environmental Law Section
- Admitted to all California State Courts, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal, and U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- Selected for inclusion as a Super Lawyer 2014-2026 Northern California Super Lawyers® magazine
- Member, Sacramento and Orange County Bar Associations
Andee enjoys travel, spending time on the ocean searching for whales, attending live music shows, reading, cooking and volunteering with T1 International, #insulin4all. She is also a former board member of Cottage Housing and Volunteers in Parole. Unlike some of her partners, Andee runs only to avoid missing international airline connections.
Outside counsel to:
- City of Los Angeles, including the Department of Cannabis Regulation on various project approvals and code revisions
- Port of Los Angeles on tenant expansion or lease extension projects
- Waste Management, Inc. on numerous clean energy and landfill related projects throughout California
- City of Newport Beach in airport and development-related projects
- Administrative Office of the Courts/CA Judicial Council, to upgrade various courthouses throughout California
- Merced County Regional Waste Management Authority on landfill-related matters
- California Prison Health Care Receivership, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, for purposes of renovating and building new health care facilities for prisoners that meet constitutional standards.
- G.I. Industries v. City of Thousand Oaks (2025) 2025 WL 221844 & (2022) 84 Cal.App.5th 814 (counsel for prevailing party/petitioner G.I. Industries)
- City of Los Angeles v. Federal Aviation Administration 63 F.4th 835 (9th Cir. Mar. 29, 2023) (counsel for prevailing party/petitioner City of Los Angeles)
- Sierra Watch v. County of Placer County (2021) 69 Cal.App.5th 86 (counsel for Real Party in Interest (RPI))
- Stein v. Alameda County Waste Management
Authority (2020) 2020 WL 4745561
(counsel for prevailing RPI) - Sunset Coalition v. City of Los Angeles (2018) 2018 WL 1046243 (counsel for prevailing party/City of Los Angeles)
- Placerville Historic Preservation League v. Judicial Council of California (2017) 16 Cal.App.5th, 187 (counsel for prevailing party Judicial Council)
- County Sanitation Dist. No. 2 of Los Angeles County v. County of Kern (2016) (Tulare County Superior Crt. (counsel for City of Los Angeles)
- Citizens for Open Government/ Lodi First v. City of Lodi (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 296 (counsel for prevailing party/ RPI)
- El Pueblo Para El Aire Y Agua Limpio, Greenaction v. Kings County (2012) 2012 Cal.App. Unpub. LEXIS 4984 (counsel for prevailing party/ RPI)
- City of Irwindale v. City of Azusa (2012) (Superior Crt. County of Los Angeles)
(counsel for prevailing party/ RPI) - California Native Plant Society v. County of El Dorado (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 1026 (counsel for RPI).
- As counsel to a variety of applicants, Ms. Leisy has successfully assisted with the environmental review and entitlement of numerous developments, including for landfill, recycling, and clean energy projects on behalf of Waste Management of California, Inc., congregate care projects on behalf of Cameron Park Ventures, and affordable housing projects addressing the needs of the unhoused and intellectually disabled on behalf of We Are Up, a nonprofit, and The Danco Group, among others.
- As counsel to public agencies and real parties in interest, Ms. Leisy has also successfully defended numerous cases involving CEQA, the Planning and Zoning Law and related land use statutes, including lawsuits challenging private developments and affordable housing projects approved by the City of Los Angeles, the expansion of the Kettleman Hills Hazardous Waste Landfill, and various courthouse improvement projects approved by the Judicial Council of California.
- As petitioner’s counsel, Ms. Leisy has successfully filed actions pursuant to CEQA, NEPA, and the Brown Act. Most recently, with her partner Nate George, Ms. Leisy prevailed twice before the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District, ultimately finding the City of Thousand Oaks violated the Ralph M. Brown Act when approving a project. Ms. Leisy, with assistance from Laura Middleton, also successfully prevailed before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal to require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to revisit an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to consider and mitigate the noise-related construction impacts of the Burbank Airport Replacement Passenger Terminal Project on local underserved communities.
Ms. Leisy joined the firm as an associate in 2000 and became a partner in 2005. She was managing partner from 2011 to December 2016 and currently works out of RMM’s Orange County office. Her practice focuses on providing expert environmental and land use litigation and consulting services to both public and private clients, including state agencies, cities and counties, environmental consultants, project applicants, private companies, and environmental organizations.
She has over 26 years of experience in assisting clients with the local administrative review and entitlement processes, as well as litigating environmental cases in various trial courts, State Courts of Appeal, and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.
Among the services she provides is the review of administrative draft Environmental Impact Reports, Environmental Impact Statements, and related documents to ensure compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the State Planning and Zoning Law, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Integrated Waste Management Act, the California Coastal Act, the Ralph M. Brown Act, and other related land use and environmental statutes.
Ms. Leisy has also worked on cleanup projects involving the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
- J.D., Golden Gate University School of Law, 1999
- B.A., Legal Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1994
- B.A., Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1994
- The State Bar of California
- California Lawyers Association, Environmental Law Section
- California State Courts
- United States District Court, Eastern and Northern Districts of California
- Orange County Bar Association
- Environmental Law Section
- Editor, Climate Change Law & Policy Reporter, 2010-2012
- Editor, California Land Use & Policy Reporter, 2001-2004
- Selected for inclusion in the 2014-2023 Northern California Super Lawyers® magazine and Rising Stars section of the 2009-2011 Northern California Super Lawyers® magazine
Hiking, camping, cooking, travel, and fitness Girls on the Run, Coach, Spring 2024
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- City of Los Angeles v. Federal Aviation Administration (2023) (9th Cir.) 63 F.4th 835 (counsel for Petitioner)
- G.I. Industries v. City of Thousand Oaks (2022) 84 Cal.App.5th 814 (counsel for Petitioner)
- Sierra Watch v. County of Placer (2021) 69 Cal.App.5th 86 (counsel for Real Party in Interest Squaw Valley Real Estate, LLC)
- Stein et al. v. Alameda County Waste Management Authority (2020) 2020 WL 4745561 (Counsel for Real Party in Interest Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc.)
- Sunset Coalition v. City of Los Angeles (2018) 2018 WL 1046243 (Counsel for Respondent City of Los Angeles)
- Placerville Historic Preservation League v. Judicial Council of California (2017) 16 Cal.App.5th 187 (counsel for Respondent Judicial Council)
- El Pueblo Para El Aire y Agua Limpio v. Kings County (2012) 2012 Cal.App.Unpub.LEXIS 4984 (counsel for Real Party in Interest)
- Citizens for Open Government v. City of Lodi (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 296 (counsel for Real Party in Interest)
- California Native Plant Society v. County of El Dorado (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 1026 (counsel for Real Party in Interest).