About Linda
Linda Lye took a circuitous path into the law that began in the humanities. She earned a bachelor’s degree in literature from Yale University in 1989 and later returned to academics for a law degree at UC Berkeley School of Law, receiving her J.D. in 1999.
Her early legal years were spent in some of the most exacting chambers. Fresh out of law school she clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1999. The following year she served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court of the United States. Those clerkships exposed her to high-stakes appellate work and the mechanics of constitutional adjudication.
In 2002 she joined Altshuler Berzon as a partner. That role marked a shift from appellate clerkship to private practice and public-interest litigation. In 2010 she moved to the ACLU of Northern California as a senior staff lawyer. At the ACLU she handled litigation and advocacy work on civil liberties matters and related policy issues.
Her career took another turn in 2018 when she was appointed a Superior Court judge in Contra Costa County. On the bench she presided over cases in the county’s trial court, bringing years of litigation and constitutional experience to judicial decision-making.
In 2021 she entered state government as Deputy Secretary for Law Enforcement and General Counsel at the California Environmental Protection Agency. The position combined litigation experience, regulatory knowledge, and a role advising an agency on enforcement matters. It placed her at the intersection of law, policy, and environmental regulation at the state level.
Throughout her career Lye has moved between public service, public-interest law, and government roles. Her résumé reflects sustained engagement with constitutional issues, civil liberties litigation, and later, environmental law and regulatory enforcement. The variety of positions—clerkships at the federal level, private practice partnership, ACLU litigation, a trial-court judgeship, and state counsel—illustrates a willingness to shift settings while applying core legal skills.
Colleagues describe her as methodical and attentive to legal detail. Her background in literature and rigorous appellate training inform a writing style often noted in opinions and briefs. As of 2026 she serves at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Her work involves environmental law and agency enforcement.
