Columbo Deol LLP, founded by attorneys Michael Columbo and John-Paul S. Deol, represents clients challenging federal, state, and local government rules and actions throughout California and the United States.

Founding partner Michael Columbo has been practicing law for more than a quarter century, spending half his career as a federal agency attorney before turning to private practice where he represents clients in affirmative challenges to statutes, agency rules, and government actions. Having seen government in action from the inside, he better assists businesses in agriculture, manufacturing, media, and other regulated fields to defend their businesses by holding government agencies accountable.

Insight from the Inside Out

California’s regulatory environment is among the most demanding in the country. For California businesses subject to state and federal oversight, including agriculture, manufacturing, technology, and professional services, regulatory scrutiny is a recurring feature of doing business. Having counsel who understands how agencies operate and knows how to push back effectively when they overreach is an essential part of any sophisticated company’s legal toolkit. Columbo Deol LLP has that real-world experience.

Our Approach to Government Regulation Practice

We advise businesses across industries facing state and federal regulatory requirements, from workplace regulations to consumer protection, licensing, market regulation, and industry-specific oversight. While regulation can be a necessary part of doing business in a complex world, government authorities responding to political pressure and with the best of intentions may nonetheless overreach, acting unlawfully or exceeding their authority in ways that unjustly harm our clients’ legitimate business interests. When that happens, we work with our clients to consider whether litigation is a practical option for relief.

Our government regulation counsel encompasses:

• Challenging unlawful rules, agency overreach, and unconstitutional government action
• Pressing agencies and their officials on public records, conflicts of interest, and procedural violations
• Prosecuting impact litigation to establish precedent benefiting entire industries

Experience That Sets Us Apart

The playing field is rarely level when it comes to challenging government regulations and actions. A business lawyer, even a seasoned civil litigator, may have little or no experience dealing with the laws and judicial doctrines constraining government agencies, while the agency making a decision that affects your business is staffed by professional civil servants who have spent their entire careers defending their agency, backed by the government’s seemingly limitless resources.

Counsel who are accustomed to navigating commercial disputes governed by rational business decisions can be at a serious disadvantage in an unfamiliar regulatory landscape. The playbook is different, and the usual strategies are ineffective, perhaps even counterproductive.

Michael Columbo has been in the rooms where regulatory decisions are made. He understands the structural constraints that limit agency authority, including transparency obligations, conflict-of-interest rules, and the constitutional and statutory limits on what regulators can do.

These are not merely legal abstractions, but practical pressure points our firm has used. Whether we are compelling an agency to disclose records it would prefer to withhold, challenging a decision tainted by a conflict of interest, arguing that a regulator has exceeded its legislative mandate, or charging that a statutory scheme is unconstitutional, we know where the leverage is.

We also understand that for our commercial clients, considering litigation to block an unwarranted agency action is generally not an ideological choice. It is a business decision. How to best respond to regulatory threats can consume management attention, delay decisions, and create uncertainty that touches every part of the business. We work to resolve that uncertainty as directly and efficiently as the matter allows so that you can get back to running your business.