Impact at CLIPI
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Carlson was a fellow and subsequently staff attorney at Hall & Phillips where she focused much of her work on CLIPI cases, including CLIPI’s challenge to California’s Proposition 13 and a False Claims Act lawsuit against Teledyne Industries. She also worked on the Paramount Ranch litigation, which challenged the adequacy of the EIR prepared for the development of a residential subdivision in one of LA’s best known scenic areas
Carlson subsequently pursued a distinguished academic and public service career. She is currently the Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law at UCLA School of Law and the founding Faculty Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. From 2021 to 2024, in the Biden administration, she served as Chief Counsel and later as Acting Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). During her tenure at NHTSA, she led efforts to issue stringent fuel economy standards and enhance vehicle safety regulations, and remains a nationally recognized voice at the intersection of environmental policy and law.
