Kim Steinhardt served as an administrative law judge and later chief counsel for a state agency that hears appeals of government action. He has also been a litigator and counsel to local government. In the private sector he served as a leader in ethical and statutory compliance while in-house counsel for a top Fortune ranked company. He has been a public interest advocate and a registered lobbyist in California’s state Legislature. In addition to working with grassroots organizations in California, Kim has taught groups nationwide how to work with legislative and budget processes to achieve their goals. He is author of the handbook Public Interest Legislative Advocacy in California.

The classes he teaches at Santa Clara cover the fundamentals of policymaking and legislation — from the influences on its creation to its interpretation by the courts, and how public interest advocates impact these lawmaking, budget, and initiative processes. As a long-time conservationist whose marine wildlife photography has appeared in National Geographic Books and other publications, he also brings an emphasis on ocean issues into this legislative context. He is a popular presenter of public lectures on the complex and sometimes troubling relationship of legislation, litigation, and human intervention in nature, especially as it relates to stewardship of the California coast, including sea otters and other threatened species. He regularly writes on these topics including the recent book The Edge: The Pressured Past and Precarious Future of California’s Coast (K. Steinhardt, G. Griggs).