Best Best & Krieger News Feed

Environmental Consultant

28 Sep 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger has an immediate need for an in-house Environment and Natural Resources Consultant to provide technical assistance in the review and preparation of environmental documents related to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ideal candidate should have significant technical experience in the following areas:

• Project design, scoping and procedural compliance
• Air quality, traffic, noise, and water quality analysis
• Biological and cultural resource assessments
• Preparation of documents related to CEQA, NEPA and ESA compliance, including joint documents with federal agencies
• Community outreach and comment analysis
• Other technical environmental planning services, as appropriate

In addition to technical expertise in the areas identified above, necessary skills include strong technical writing skills, attention to detail, ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment, ability and desire to work as part of a team, and strong client communication skills.

Qualified applicants are invited to apply online by clicking the link below. Applicants must attach a resume and cover letter to be considered for employment. This self-apply feature is compatible with Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 & 9, Mozilla Firefox for Windows, or Safari for Macintosh. PLEASE NOTE, IF USING AN APPLE PRODUCT, YOU MUST TURN OFF POP UP BLOCKER.

lawcruit.micronapps.com/sup/lc_supp_jobpost.aspx

Please address cover letters to:

Debbie A. Prior
Director of Human Resources
Best Best & Krieger LLP

No phone calls please

Best Best & Krieger LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

BB&K Ranked No. 8 on Top Sacramento Law Firms List

26 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0800

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Best Best & Krieger LLP’s Sacramento Office is ranked No. 8 on the Sacramento Business Journal’s 2016 Top of the List: Law Firms. The publication ranks the local law firms by head count, listing the top 30. With 21 attorneys, BB&K’s Sacramento office moved up one position from 2015.

BB&K’s Sacramento attorneys serve a wide variety of clients, including the municipal, special districts, health care and agricultural industries. Their practice areas include Land Use & Zoning, Labor & Employment, Environmental & Natural Resources, Real Estate and Litigation.

“I am pleased to see how BB&K’s Sacramento office is growing not only by the numbers, but in its strength and depth of experience,” said Sacramento Managing Partner Edward J. Quinn.

In addition to the attorneys, BB&K last year added a lobbyist to the firm. Based in Sacramento, Director of Governmental Affairs Syrus Devers assists clients in navigating the complexities of California state government.

BB&K Attorneys Recognized as 2014 Northern California Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

04 Jul 2014 00:00:00 -0800

For Immediate Release: July 4, 2014
Media Contact: Denise Nix • 213-787-2552 • denise.nix@bbklaw.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif _ Best Best & Krieger LLP congratulates its seven attorneys included in the 2014 Northern California Super Lawyers and Super Lawyers Rising Stars lists. No more than 5 percent of California’s attorneys are included in the Super Lawyers lists each year, which is compiled from peer nominations and a research team. To be one of the 2.5 percent of attorneys included on the Rising Stars list, an attorney must either be 40 or younger or in practice for 10 years or less.

The BB&K attorneys named to this year’s list are:

Sarah Owsowitz, Super Lawyers, Land Use/Zoning, Walnut Creek
Sue Schoenig, Super Lawyers, Employment & Labor Law, Sacramento
Stacey Sheston, Super Lawyers, Employment & Labor Law, Sacramento
Harriet Steiner, Super Lawyers, State, Local & Municipal Law, Sacramento
Gene Tanaka, Super Lawyers, Environmental Litigation, Walnut Creek
Kara Ueda, Rising Stars, State, Local & Municipal Law, Sacramento
Sigrid Asmundson, Rising Stars, State, Local & Municipal Law, Sacramento

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. For more information, visit SuperLawyers.com.

Best Best & Krieger LLP is a national law firm that focuses on environmental, business, education, municipal and telecommunications law for public agency and private clients. With nearly 200 attorneys, the law firm has nine offices nationwide, including Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and Washington D.C. For more information, visit www.bbklaw.com or follow @BBKlaw on Twitter.

AB 1825 Sexual Harassment Avoidance Training (April 28)

28 Apr 2014 00:00:00 -0800

California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, pursuant to AB 1825, requires that employers with fifty or more employees in California provide at least two hours of Sexual Harassment Avoidance Training every two years to any employee that has a supervisory role in operations. This presentation is designed to satisfy those requirements.

Joseph Ortiz presented the training from the Riverside office. All other BB&K offices participated in the training via state-of-the-art video conferencing. The video conference is interactive, allowing attendees to ask questions and participate in other ways.

What was covered:

What constitutes sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace
How to recognize and avoid it
What procedures to follow if you witness harassment or are harassed yourself
The potential consequences - including personal liability - of sexual harassment

Audience:

Supervisors
Human Resources Professionals
Public Officials
Managers & Private Business Professionals with 50 or More Employees

When:

Monday, April 28
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Registration:

The training was also held via video conference at the following BB&K offices throughout California.

Indian wells
Irvine
Los Angeles
Ontario
Riverside – Joseph Ortiz presented from the Riverside office
Sacramento
San Diego
Walnut Creek

BB&K Presenter:

Joseph Ortiz, Partner, Labor & Employment Practice Group in Riverside office

QUESTIONS:

Contact Katey Lamke if you have any questions about this event and/or about BB&K upcoming seminars/events.

If you are not currently receiving our Legal Alerts and would like to be added to our email distribution list, please visit our subscription page.

AB 1825 Sexual Harassment Avoidance Training (January 13)

13 Jan 2014 00:00:00 -0800

Joseph Ortiz presented the training from the Riverside office. All other BB&K offices participated in the training via state-of-the-art video conferencing. The video conference was interactive, allowing attendees to ask questions and participate in other ways.

What was covered:

What constitutes sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace
How to recognize and avoid it
What procedures to follow if you witness harassment or are harassed yourself
The potential consequences - including personal liability - of sexual harassment

Audience:

Supervisors
Human Resources Professionals
Public Officials
Managers & Private Business Professionals with 50 or More Employees

The training was also held via video conference at the following BB&K offices throughout California:

Indian wells
Irvine
Los Angeles
Ontario
Riverside – Joseph Ortiz presented from the Riverside office
Sacramento
San Diego
Walnut Creek

Veteran Sacramento Real Estate Attorney Joins BB&K’s Business Practice

19 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0800

For Immediate Release: Nov. 19, 2013
Media Contact: Jennifer Bowles • 951.826.8480 • jennifer.bowles@BBKlaw.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Stephen G. Stwora-Hail, a prominent real estate attorney with more than 25 years of experience in the Sacramento region, has joined Best Best & Krieger LLP as a partner in its business services practice group.

“Steve is certainly one of the most recognized and successful real estate attorneys in the Sacramento region, and BB&K is proud to have him aboard as part of our business practice,” said Howard Golds, a Riverside-based partner who heads the business services practice group across the firm’s nine offices in California and Washington D.C.

Stwora-Hail has spent his career successfully negotiating key real estate deals on behalf of grocery chains, commercial developers and agricultural clients. He has worked for such well-known businesses as Raley’s, negotiating the acquisition, development and lease agreements for the West Sacramento-based supermarket chain that led to the construction of some 45 shopping centers across Northern California and Nevada that are anchored by the company’s grocery stores. Stwora-Hail also obtained entitlements for the Raley's Landing Project, a 20-acre mixed-use project along the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.

In addition, Stwora-Hail has helped clients in the development of strip malls and regional shopping centers, and negotiated transactions on their behalf with national retail tenants such as Home Depot, Target, Best Buy and PetSmart, and restaurant chains such as Mimi's, Panera Bread and In-N-Out Burger.

Stwora-Hail also focuses his legal practice on agricultural clients by helping them to annex their land for residential and commercial uses. In South Sacramento County, he assisted Horizon Dairy with the purchase of a 600-acre farm in which the sale price was augmented by conservation easements Stwora-Hail negotiated with The Nature Conservancy.

Prior to BB&K, Stwora-Hail was with Downey Brand in Sacramento for 28 years. At BB&K, he will focus on the acquisition, development, construction and leasing of retail, warehouses, office buildings and housing projects.

“I have known about BB&K since law school and have always respected the attorneys who work there, so to become part of the law firm is a tremendous honor,” he said.

Stwora-Hail graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1982. He is a former chair of the California State Bar’s Real Property Section and was a member of its executive committee for six years.

BB&K Seminar: Statements of Economic Interests - Legal Requirements of Filing Officers & Officials

13 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0800

This program addressed the statutory duties of public agency filing officers and officials regarding Form 700 Statements of Economic Interests (SEIs).

What was covered:

Legislative & Regulatory Changes
General Rules – What’s Your Role?
- Types of Public Officials – PRA vs. CIC
- Disclosure Requirements – Full vs. Limited
Guidelines – Notices, Fines & Waivers
SEI Reviews – Facial vs. Full
- What to Look For – Common Errors
SEI Records & Retention
Public Access – Two Days
Enforcement – Reporting Apparent Violations
What February 1 Deadline?

Audience:
City Clerks and Deputy City Clerks, Filing Officers and Filing Officials designated in agency conflict of interest codes; and assistant or backup personnel

Cost Per Person:
$75 for clients who participate in the Public Policy & Ethics program
$125 for non-participants in the Public Policy & Ethics program

BB&K Presenter:
Dianna Valdez, Senior Paralegal, Conflicts of Interest & Ethics Coordinator, Public Policy & Ethics Group

QUESTIONS:
Contact Katey Lamke if you have any questions about this event and/or about BB&K upcoming seminars/events.

If you are not currently receiving our Legal Alerts and would like to be added to our email distribution list, please visit our subscription page.

Four BB&K Attorneys Named by the Daily Journal Among Top 20 Municipal Lawyers In California

06 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0800

For Immediate Release: Nov. 6, 2013
Media Contact: Jennifer Bowles • 951.826.8480 • jennifer.bowles@BBKlaw.com

LOS ANGELES _ The Daily Journal today named four attorneys at Best Best & Krieger LLP among California’s Top 20 municipal lawyers in 2013 for cases involving medical marijuana, water rights, redevelopment and corruption.

The state’s top legal newspaper recognized Jeffrey Dunn in Irvine for, among other things, successfully arguing before the California Supreme Court in a case involving Riverside that state law does not prevent cities and counties from regulating medical marijuana dispensaries; Eric Garner, BB&K managing partner based in Los Angeles and Riverside, for an appellate court victory involving Santa Maria and a large portion of California’s Central Coast that strengthened the right of cities and public agencies to use groundwater for people; T. Brent Hawkins in Sacramento for handling lawsuits for cities and counties challenging the state’s handling of post-redevelopment issues, including a case that resulted in a judge agreeing that Riverside should get nearly $19 million in loans originally taken out by the city’s redevelopment agency, and Kendall MacVey in Riverside for his role in a case that saved the San Bernardino Associated Governments from having to reimburse San Bernardino County for a $102 million settlement that is the target of a corruption probe.

Lawyers at BB&K, with nine offices in California and Washington, D.C., serve as city attorney to more than 30 cities across California and provide special counsel work to dozens more.

“The recognition by The Daily Journal of four BB&K attorneys is incredibly gratifying and an enormous honor for them and the firm. We are very proud of these attorneys for doing such great work for our clients,” said Jeff Ballinger, an Ontario-based attorney who leads the firm’s municipal law practice group.

The Daily Journal Corp., publisher of the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals, issued its annual list of the state’s Top 20 municipal lawyers in a special supplement to today’s editions. According to The State Bar of California, there are more than 244,000 attorneys statewide.

BB&K Attorney Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

22 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0800

For Immediate Release: Oct. 22, 2013
Media Contact: Jennifer Bowles • 951.826.8480 • jennifer.bowles@BBKlaw.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Joseph E. Coomes, Jr., an attorney at Best Best & Krieger LLP, was recently honored by the local chapter of the Urban Land Institute as the first recipient of the Lifetime Visionary Honor award.

Coomes was given the award during an Oct. 17 dinner, during which the ULI announced that moving forward the award would be named in his honor as the Joseph E. Coomes Lifetime Visionary Honor.

“Through his 35-year membership in ULI, and as one of the most respected land-use, redevelopment and public law attorneys in California, we are pleased to be recognizing such an iconic figure in the Sacramento real estate and land use community,” said Gladys Cornell, chair of ULI Sacramento.

Coomes, who joined BB&K in 2010 as an of counsel attorney in the municipal law practice group, said he was honored and humbled by the recognition.

“I have been fortunate to have practiced both on the public and private side of real estate development, which helped me to understand the dynamics of negotiations and where deals can be made,” he said.

Coomes is best known for successfully negotiating some of the largest and most difficult urban mixed-use redevelopment projects in California, including San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens and downtown San Jose’s Silicon Valley Financial Center.

Ed Quinn, managing partner of BB&K’s Sacramento office, said Coomes’ contributions to his clients and his community over the years have been staggering.

“This wonderful ULI award could not be more aptly named, as Joe truly is a visionary,” Quinn said.

In l997, Coomes represented the owners of Arco Arena and the Sacramento Kings NBA team in a successful public refinancing of the private debt on the arena and the team which enabled the Kings to remain in Sacramento. Along with Quinn, who represented a major developer, Coomes helped negotiate and structure a tax-exempt financing of a downtown convention center hotel in Sacramento.

Coomes has been a member of ULI since the 1970s. Over the years, he has participated in several ULI national working councils and was the founding chair of ULI’s Sacramento District Council, one of the first district councils in nation.

BB&K’s Nancy Park Honored as a Top Real Estate Woman in Northern California

14 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Nancy Park, a real estate and business attorney at Best Best & Krieger in Sacramento, was named among the 2013 Northern California Real Estate Women of Influence for her commitment and success in the industry.

Park was given the award at an Oct. 2 event held by the San Francisco Business Times and the law firm of Allen Matkins. She was specifically recognized for being a consummate networker who connects people, deals, companies and communities worldwide.

Of her recent deals, Park represented the city of Santa Cruz in the negotiation and construction of an NBA D-league 4,000-seat arena, and handled the successful negotiations of leases for film studios and farms as well for several retail, office, industrial and airport properties.

Park has been a member of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Sacramento for more than 20 years, serving as president and holding most board positions, as well as being a national delegate.

Click here to read more about the awards.