By Keemia Zhang and Judith Katz
CLEE Emeritus Advisory Board member Martin “Marty” Mattes was first admitted to Berkeley Law in 1968, but it was his determined journey to secure conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War that would set him free to pursue his legal calling in 1971. He entered the law school at a historic crossroads, as shifting student demographics and national political turmoil created a unique atmosphere of social change
A Path to Purpose at Berkeley Law
Marty noted that his first year of law school was marked by the admission of a significantly more diverse cohort, which led to a profound shift in campus culture. “We had a student strike in the spring semester and that made for an interesting year,” says Marty, adding that it was a “more idealistic” time. In his second year, Mattes joined the staff of the then-fledgling Ecology Law Quarterly (ELQ) and later took a leadership role as Managing Editor. “I learned a lot about how to do proper citations, and had some interesting substantive articles to work on – it was kind of the early period of interest in environmental regulation,” recalls Mattes, referring to the Nixon-era enactments of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
“I was also interested in issues about pollution and toxic products, but I never took an environmental law course,” Mattes admits. “The main course was in water law, taught by Professor [Sho] Sato. I didn’t have any interest then, but I wish I had,” Marty reflects, noting, with irony that he would later spend decades navigating the complexities of water utility regulation and water resource issues.
Early Career: From International Research to the CPUC
As his academic journey drew to a close, Mattes began the daunting job-seeking process. While he wasn’t eager to find employment with major law firms, Mattes one day took notice of a bulletin at the ELQ office advertising a legal position in Bonn, Germany at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
In Germany, Mattes helped edit a magazine called “Environmental Policy and Law”, supported IUCN’s advancement of conventions and treaties to protect migratory and endangered species, and did research on toxic substances regulation. “The interest in environmental protection in Germany had kind of developed out of the preservation of natural areas for hunting” Mattes notes, adding that “it was a great gig. The work was really interesting and Bonn was strategically located for long weekends.”
Returning to San Francisco in 1976, Mattes found himself at another crossroads, having to find what he termed a “real job”. Keen to find a job with a government regulatory agency, found a position with the most significant state agency in the city – the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). There, Mattes first worked primarily on energy utility cases, but later led the legal team during the high-stakes divestiture of AT&T, securing a victory that ensured the highly profitable Yellow Pages directories remained with local providers so as to keep basic telephone service affordable for the public.
Mattes left the CPUC in 1986, joining a San Francisco firm to represent clients mainly in the telecommunications field. After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 led to entry of new competitors followed by consolidation of a few surviving companies, the industry began a process of deregulation that left fewer policy issues of interest – and it was at this point that Mattes began to shift his focus toward energy, water, and transportation work, representing independent power producers, public agencies, and water utilities and navigating complex environmental reviews. He notes that his early orientation at ELQ remained a guiding force through decades of private practice.
“All along there, there were environmental issues that were relevant, and I had to deal with projects that involved environmental reviews and resource conservation. Having the kind of experience of working on ELQ early on gave me an orientation toward those projects,” Mattes says.
Leadership Contributions at CLEE
Mattes’ dedication to Berkeley Law has grown over several decades in tandem with his professional journey; as he rose to become a leader in water and energy regulation, his philanthropic and advisory support grew.
Soon after discovering CLEE in the early 2010s, Mattes became a member of CLEE’s Advisory Board on which he served until 2023. “I really enjoyed the experience of both learning about the research that was being done, and contributing and editing a few pieces of work,” Mattes says. “I found it very rewarding, personally, to be associated with other members of the board and getting to know some of the people who worked at CLEE.”
He continues his association with the center today as an Emeritus member and donor. He views the center as a “very important resource for the state of California” that fills the “important gap between academic research and policy development and implementation”
As Mike Kiparsky, CLEE’s Water Program Director, notes, “Marty exemplifies an ideal CLEE board member by bringing deep substantive knowledge of issues, and exhibiting extraordinary generosity. He is a foundational financial supporter and also contributes his expertise as an advisor and reviewer, helping us level up the impact of CLEE’s work.”
“Nothing Short of Heroic”: the Expert in Action
One distinguishing feature of Marty’s history with CLEE is his participation in timely research. Mattes played a key role in the development of A Guide to the Major Climate and Environmental Excerpts in the Project 2025 Report, which CLEE released before the 2024 election. Mattes meticulously reviewed Project 2025’s 900+ pages, producing 41 pages of detailed annotations detailing the major impacts that Project 2025 would have for experts and policymakers.
“Marty’s contribution was nothing short of heroic,” says CLEE’s Ken Alex, who led the Project 2025 Guide effort. “He dove into some very dense material with an expert eye, ensuring that our guide highlights some of the most insidious threats to environmental progress and public health.”
“It was a project that felt urgent and easy to engage with at the time,” Mattes says modestly. “I found it surprising to find references to environmental issues in sections dealing with foreign policy and institutions like the State Department and USAID. I included those in the summary, without imagining they would be implemented so drastically as to eliminate the programs to combat AIDS in Africa. A horrific development!”
Fueling Practical Solutions: A Multi-Generational Legacy
Since 2013, Marty and his wife Cathy have been generous multi-year donors to CLEE, providing unrestricted support so that CLEE has more capacity for student programs, and to address policy-related opportunities as they arise. As Louise Bedsworth, Executive Director of CLEE, noted, “the support from Marty and Cathy is transformative. It provides CLEE flexibility to move beyond the constraints of institutional funding and focus on areas we can have the biggest impact.”
Mattes’ legacy of public service continues through his son who recently graduated from Berkeley Law and initially pursued a career with the Federal Trade Commission, more recently joining a plaintiffs-side antitrust firm – and following the Berkeley tradition that Mattes has exemplified.
As CLEE continues to expand its efforts amidst a challenging political landscape, Mattes says the organization’s mission remains clear: “CLEE isn’t engaged in abstract studies; it’s engaged in finding ways to implement practical solutions to environmental problems… I’m optimistic that CLEE will continue to be a force in California scholarship and policy for years to come.”
By lending his professional expertise and philanthropic leadership, Mattes ensures that Berkeley Law will continue its tradition of public service across future generations.
This article was made possible by support from the Erin Ziegler Fund, an endowment for the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment within UC Berkeley Law.