John H. Reaves is now retired. He received his law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1983, where he was a member of the law review. He was admitted to practice in California the same year. He practiced 43 years, primarily in business, property, insurance, and environmental disputes, litigation, and appeals, until his retirement in 2026.
In 1986, he represented Super Plating in downtown San Diego’s first major contamination litigation. Multiple lawsuits were spawned involving a Superfund action brought by a redevelopment agency, insurance coverage, unlawful detainer, criminal prosecution and bankruptcy.
He represented a broad spectrum of plaintiffs and defendants, including oil companies, gas station owners and operators, dairies, auto repair and dealers, dry cleaners, electroplaters, landlords, shopping centers, landowners, condo owners, real estate brokers, businesses, and individuals, in various matters.
In 1988, he, with the assistance of former Senator Gordon Cologne (who co-sponsored the Porter-Cologne Water Act, which established the regulatory framework under which the regional and state water boards were created), successfully amended the California Health & Safety Code regarding above-ground tanks on behalf of a large circuit board manufacturer client, Industrial Circuits.
A significant portion of his practice dealt with hazardous and solid waste litigation and regulatory matters, including such areas as CERCLA (Federal Superfund) and RCRA. Mr. Reaves addressed a myriad of property contamination cases from various angles, including property transfers, landlord-tenant disputes, contamination assessment and remediation, development, risk shifting, insurance, UST Cleanup fund, local, regional and state regulatory agencies, and state and federal EPA administrative orders.
Mr. Reaves also handled litigation or matters dealing with environmental crimes, Prop 65, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), habitat, permits, stormwater regulations, water and water run-off, groundwater, toxic torts, mold, asbestos, lead, hazardous waste transport, refuse franchises, recycling, and many other areas.
He lectured frequently on environmental and insurance matters. Mr. Reaves co-chaired the Environmental Law/Land Use Section of the San Diego County Bar Association from 1986 to 2001, 2003-2005.
In 2011, Mr. Reaves was trained and credentialed by the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego, beginning his career as a mediator. In 2012, he co-founded the Land Use and Environmental Mediation Group, a division of NCRC, dedicated to resolving environmental, land use, energy, and public policy disputes through mediation and public facilitation.
Mr. Reaves moved to Santa Barbara County in 2017. Since 2019, Mr. Reaves has served as a volunteer Settlement Master for the Santa Barbara Superior Court in over 150 matters. He can be hired as a mediator through Central Coast Mediation. CentralCoastMediation.net. He uses Zoom for all his mediations.