Stephanie Safdi is a Visiting Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Safdi’s research and practice areas include environmental law and justice, water law, land use, and Indigenous rights. From 2021 to 2024, Safdi was Clinical Supervising Attorney and Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School’s Environmental Law Clinic, where she supervised students in environmental and civil rights litigation and administrative advocacy on behalf of Native American tribes and nonprofit organizations.
Safdi previously served as Deputy County Counsel for the County of Santa Clara, California, where she advised the County Consumer and Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Environmental Health, and Planning and Development Department. Safdi litigated public nuisance actions and worked on lead hazard abatement as a member of the Office of the County Counsel’s Social Justice and Impact Litigation team and served as General Counsel for the County Emergency Operations Center on COVID-19 response and as legal advisor for wildfire recovery.
Safdi began her legal practice as an environmental law fellow at the public interest environmental law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP, where she represented public agencies, community groups, and Native American tribes in state and federal court and in regulatory proceedings before state public utilities commissions and other agencies. Safdi clerked for the Honorable Michelle T. Friedland on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Honorable Ricardo S. Martinez on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Prior to law school, Stephanie was a Fulbright Fellow in Israel.
