Barak Kamelgard
A nature documentary junkie and certified scuba diver since the age of 13, Barak has been in love with and fascinated by the ocean and marine life for as long as he can remember. He’s had the great fortune to dive around the world and see the immense diversity of life in the water. However, in even his short lifetime, Barak has seen first-hand the devastating impacts of pollution, human action, and climate change on these delicate ecosystems. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Barak decided he needed to do everything in his power to save the ocean and make sure the next generations still have safe, healthy, and accessible waters left to enjoy and live off. That is why, after years of practice as a business and IP litigator and entertainment attorney, Barak decided to transition his career to an area of law where he could make a meaningful, positive difference.
Barak's first step was enrolling in Lewis & Clark Law School's LLM program in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law, one of the top-ranked Environmental Law programs in the US. This allowed him to supplement his legal knowledge by extensively studying a wide variety of domestic and international environmental laws regarding topics such as ocean and coastal rights, activities, and regulation, water and hazardous waste pollution, endangered species, marine mammal protection, fisheries management, and environmental justice, and learning how they all apply and interact in various contexts. While at Lewis & Clark, Barak worked for the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment, an international law clinic, where he partnered with governments, institutions, experts, and advocates around the world on laws and policies regarding the protection of wildland and marine animals by addressing direct exploitation, habitat conservation, the wildlife trade, poaching, the extinction crisis, and more. Thanks largely to his passion for the subject matter, Barak graduated summa cum laude with the highest GPA in his class.
As the ultimate culmination of his career transition, Barak was thrilled to join LA Waterkeeper after finishing his LLM. Now, every day he gets to use his legal skills and environmental law knowledge to make a positive impact regarding issues he cares deeply about, as part of a team that supports him at every step of the way. He couldn't have asked for anything better.