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NEW RESEARCH: BUILDING TRADES UNIONS PAID ALMOST $90 MILLION TO JUST TWO LAW FIRMS WITH A HISTORY OF FILING SHAKEDOWN CEQA LAWSUITS TO LEVERAGE UNION CONTRACTS

October 16, 2026

Public filings shed new light on the real reason building trades are opposing Proposition 45 – at the expense of their members

Sacramento, CA — Today, the YES on Prop 45 campaign released new research based on publicly available filings that show California building trades unions paid $88,491,386 to the environmental law firms of Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo PC (ABJC) and Lozeau Drury LLP between 2011 and 2025.

Both firms have a long history of abusing CEQA to challenge development projects as a means of leveraging developers to agree to non-environmental concessions such as union contracts.

Adams, Broadwell, Joseph & Cardozo touts on its website that it “has been known for its ability to fashion innovative and effective approaches to resolving disputes and furthering the interests of its labor union… clients.”  Public filings show the firm received $69.3 million from trades unions from 2011 to 2025 for this work.

Lozeau Drury, LLP says on its website that “many labor unions have recognized that environmental enforcement can creat[e]… new jobs.” The firm received $19.2 million from trades unions between 2011 to 2025, according to public documents.

The amounts were revealed in union filings, including IRS Form 990 filings and U.S. Department of Labor LM-2 filings.

“It’s dumbfounding that trades leaders oppose a measure that creates tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs for their members while funneling tens of millions of dollars to law firms that profit from costly CEQA lawsuits at the expense of California’s affordability,” said Amelia Matier, YES on 45 spokesperson. “But these findings raise a troubling question: Why are union leaders siding with attorneys who profit from costly CEQA lawsuits instead of the workers who benefit from getting projects built?”

This is just one example of special interests exploiting CEQA to pursue objectives that have nothing to do with environmental protection. What makes the building trades’ opposition particularly perplexing is that Prop 45 makes strong labor protections a prerequisite for streamlined approvals. Rather than paying lawyers to fight projects one by one to secure labor concessions, unions would benefit from enforceable labor standards established upfront.

By streamlining project reviews for essential projects and requiring strong labor standards on these projects, Prop 45 will create tens of thousands of union jobs.

Below is a summary of payments to Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo and Lozeau Drury reported. A detailed breakdown of all payments is attached.

Download the Summary