About Guy
Guy Alsentzer built his legal foundation at Vermont Law School, where he earned a J.D. in 2006 and an M.S. in environmental law and policy in 2009. He studied political science and philosophy at Pepperdine University, graduating with a B.S. in 2002. Those degrees shaped the two themes that have run through his career: law and water.
Early work placed him inside clinics and public offices. In 2007 he clerked in the Vermont Law School Environmental & Natural Resources Law Clinic. He served as a law clerk and student practitioner in Gallatin County in 2008, then took a clerkship and fellowship at the Western Environmental Law Center in 2009. That sequence exposed him to both litigation strategy and the practical demands of local regulators.
He moved from clerkships into riverkeeper organizations and advocacy roles. In 2010 he was a staff lawyer at Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper. By 2013 he had joined Upper Missouri Waterkeeper as executive director and staff lawyer. In those positions he combined case work, field investigations and organizational management. He handled enforcement matters, administrative filings and community outreach tied to water quality and watershed protection.
Those experiences sit on top of formal study in water resources management. His M.S. concentrated on the legal and policy tools that shape water allocation, pollution control and stakeholder governance. That academic grounding informs how he approaches both disputes and policy questions. He has worked on matters that require understanding technical reports, regulatory timelines and the relationship between agencies and the courts.
Alsentzer is admitted to practice in Montana and before the Federal Circuit. That combination of admissions reflects the mix of regional practice and federal appellate exposure his work can require. He has worked on matters that involve state permitting regimes, federal statutes and administrative procedures.
Colleagues and clients have described him as pragmatic in the courtroom and exacting on technical points, traits that are useful when cases turn on sampling methods or statutory interpretation. He mixes litigation experience with enforcement and policy work, moving between complaint drafting, negotiations and administrative hearings.
He now practices environmental and water-resources law in Montana and in matters that may reach the Federal Circuit. His current practice focuses on environmental and water-resources law in Montana and before the Federal Circuit.
