Ariel Stavitsky

Ariel Stavitsky is an energy and environmental attorney with focuses in Oregon and Washington energy facility permitting, environmental and natural resource-related litigation, and regulatory counseling. She advises and advocates for clients across multiple industries, including energy development, natural resource production, and manufacturing.

After graduating first in her law school class, Ariel served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable John V. Acosta of the U.S. District Court, District of Oregon. As a law student, she worked for the Oregon Department of Justice, Natural Resources Section, and for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before her legal career, Ariel served as an environmental consultant specializing in risk assessment and compliance. She now draws on this practical and legal experience to help clients proactively navigate complex environmental issues, from initial project scoping to permitting to administrative and judicial litigation and appeals.

Read More Read Less

Education

University of Oregon School of Law, J.D. 2017; Order of the Coif; Bowerman Fellow, Energy Law and Policy Project, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, 2015-2017

Tulane University, B.A., Environmental Studies, Minor in Studio Art - Glass, 2011, summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

Oregon

Washington

United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

Tlingit & Haida Tribal Court Bar

Languages

Utility-Scale Energy Facility Permitting and Permit Defense

Ariel helps energy facility developers obtain and defend site certificates and other project approvals, from initial scoping to final permit  to administrative and judicial appeals. Ariel has significant experience permitting wind, solar, and battery storage (BESS) facilities before the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC) and Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) and local land use jurisdictions in Oregon and Washington. She offers proactive and pragmatic approaches to managing complex permitting timelines and engagement  with regulators, consultants, and other project stakeholders throughout permitting and appeal processes.

Among other regulatory frameworks, she assists clients in navigating issues involving Oregon’s Statewide Planning Goals (including Goals 3 and 4 protecting farm and forest land), Washington’s Growth Management Act, the  Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review, and state wildlife, visual, and other resource protections.

Representative matters include:

• Obtained Oregon EFSC site certificate for state’s largest solar and BESS facility, including first-of-its-kind mitigation proposal to address impacts to agricultural economy.
• Obtained Washington EFSEC site certificate for 1,000+ MW hybrid (wind, solar, BESS) energy facility despite local project opposition, assisting in all aspects of permitting, from SEPA review to adjudication hearings.   
• Successfully defended Oregon EFSC site certificate for 600 MW hybrid (wind, solar, BESS) project in appeal before Oregon Supreme Court.
• Obtained precedential Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 4 exception and conditional use permit for development of hybrid solar and BESS project on forestlands.
• Obtained Washington EFSEC site certificate for solar project utilizing Council’s expedited application and permitting process.
• Currently representing developers in numerous utility-scale, hybrid renewable energy projects in Oregon and Washington.  

Environmental and Natural Resource Litigation

Ariel also represents a diverse client base in environmental, natural resource, and energy subject matter in all stages of administrative, state, and federal litigation.

Representative matters include:

• Represented association of local governments seeking to uphold land management requirements under the Oregon and California Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant Lands Act of 1937 before D.C. Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court.
• Successfully recovered petroleum remediation costs on behalf of property owner in case involving liability issue of first impression under Oregon cleanup law.
• Successfully appealed Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation against tribal health organization following an administrative trial.
• Prevailed in pro bono representation of asylum seekers in federal immigration proceedings and of Native American tribal members in case involving artifact repatriation case before the Alaska Supreme Court.

State and Federal Regulatory Counseling, Due Diligence, and Enforcement Defense

Ariel’s practice also includes regulatory compliance counseling, risk assessment, and enforcement defense under various federal environmental laws including the Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), and analogous state laws.

News

Speaking Engagements

Publications

Press Releases

• Included in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch^® in America (Litigation—Environmental), 2022–present

• Stoel Rives LLP Mentor of the Year, Portland Office, 2024

• Selected as an “Emerging Leader” by Environmental Law Institute’s Emerging Leaders Initiative, 2021–present
• Stoel Rives LLP Andrew Guy Pro Bono Award, Recipient, 2020, 2023
• Laird Kirkpatrick Book Prize Recipient, Top Student in Evidence, 2015
• Excellence in Written Advocacy Award Recipient, Top Appellate Brief, 2015

Professional

• Oregon State Bar, Energy, Telecom, and Utility Law Section, Executive Committee, 2023-2025
• Campaign for Equal Justice, Associates Committee 2020-2023
• Women in Environment, Portland Mentoring Committee, 2018-2019
• University of Oregon School of Law, Order of the Coif, Class of 2017
• University of Oregon School of Law, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, Energy Law and Policy Project, Bowerman Fellow, 2015–2017
• Oregon Law Review, Executive Editor, 2016–2017; Staff Editor, 2015–2016