Bruce W. Beach

Partner

Bruce Beach is a partner in the Municipal law practice group of Best Best & Krieger LLP. He focuses on eminent domain and property litigation.

Mr. Beach represents public and private clients in eminent domain proceedings, as well as other matters related to real property. He has assisted public and private clients in all aspects of condemnation proceedings. Mr. Beach has worked on projects for road rights-of-way, pipelines, light rail transit corridors, reservoir sites, as well as redevelopment and flood control projects. He has also represented private individuals whose properties have been taken for public projects.

A partial list of Mr. Beach’s projects includes: City of San Buenaventura, Johnson Drive railroad grade separation; City of San Diego, Sorrento Mesa Road extension and library site; City of Redlands, Orange Avenue widening and improvement; San Diego County Water Authority, water pipelines; Fallbrook Public Utility District, Helix Water District, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Sweetwater Authority, water reservoirs and pipelines; San Diego Metropolitan Transit District (now Metropolitan Transit System), light rail extension for Old Town, Mission Valley East, Mission Valley West extension through El Cajon, and Santee; San Ysidro, intermodal transportation center and bus maintenance facility expansion; Vista CDC, town redevelopment project; National City CDC, review and defend eminent domain powers; City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency, Gaslamp District redevelopment project.

In addition to having tried numerous eminent domain cases in Superior Court, Mr. Beach has also handled many appeals and has more than 20 cases which have been certified for publication, including:

• County of San Diego v. Cabrillo Lanes, Inc. (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 576*
• San Diego County Water Authority v. Mireiter (1993) 18 Cal.App.4th 1808*
• San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board v. The Price Co. (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1541*
• Padre Dam Municipal Water District v. Joseph M. Burkhart (1995) 38 Cal.App.4th 988*
• San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board v. Cushman (1997) 53 Cal.App.4th 918*
• San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board v. Handlery Hotel, Inc. (1999) 73 Cal.App.4th 517*
• Escondido Union School Dist. v. Casa Suenos de Oro, Inc. (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 944*
• Red Mountain, LLC v. Fallbrook Public Utility District (2006) 143 Cal.App.4th 333*
• Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Diego v. Mesdaq (2007) 154 Cal.App.4th 1111*
• Community Youth Athletic Center v. City of National City (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 416

Before joining Best Best & Krieger in 1993, Mr. Beach was a partner at Jennings, Engstrand & Henrikson where he also represented public agencies and individuals in eminent domain matters. He was with the San Diego County Counsel’s Office from 1976 to 1987, representing the County of San Diego, the County of San Diego Flood Control District and various school districts in civil litigation cases involving eminent domain, real property public construction contracts and property related tax issues.

Mr. Beach has conducted training seminars for appraisers, attorneys and right-of-way agents through Best Best & Krieger, as well as for the San Diego Appraisal Institute and the San Diego International Right-of-Way Association.

Mr. Beach received his B.A. from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.  He served in the Navy from 1967 through 1969, completing his tour of duty in Vietnam as a Lieutenant j.g. He received his law degree from California Western School of Law, San Diego, in 1973 and earned his Masters of Law at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas in 1974.

*Eminent Domain matters

Education

• California Western School of Law, J.D. (1973)
• Southern Methodist University, L.L.M.
• Miami University, Ohio, B.A.

Bar Admissions

• California (1974)

Court Admissions

• California (1974)

Awards

• San Diego Super Lawyer, Eminent Domain (2013-2016)
• San Diego Magazine Top Lawyer (2015)

Memberships

• American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)

Speaking Engagements

• San Diego International Right-of-Way Association, training seminars
• San Diego Appraisal Institute, training seminars