Press Releases

Scott C. Smith Among New Members of Committee Overseeing Public Law Section

For Immediate Release: Oct. 9, 2012
Media Contact: Jennifer Bowles • 951.826.8480 • jennifer.bowles@BBKlaw.com

IRVINE, Calif. _ Scott C. Smith, a lawyer at Best Best & Krieger LLP who serves as the city attorney for Aliso Viejo and Lake Forest in Orange County, has been appointed to the executive committee of the Public Law Section of the State Bar of California.

Smith will begin his three-year term Friday, sitting on a 16-member committee that guides the policy decisions for the 1,400-member section. The section is comprised of attorneys throughout the state who work for cities, counties, water districts and other public agencies.

“I’m honored to be chosen to help foster the advancement of public law in California,” said Smith, based in BB&K’s Irvine office. “I’ve been passionate about law and public policy since high school, and sitting on the executive committee of the Public Law Section brings that interest full circle in so many ways.”

The Public Law Section works to ensure that laws affecting the public sector are enacted and implemented in a manner that is clear, effective and serves the public interest. The section also identifies and analyzes the unique ethical issues affecting public lawyers.

Smith has practiced public law for more than 26 years, specializing in municipal, land use and environmental law. He has worked for dozens of cities across Southern California from Santee in San Diego County to Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains, to Claremont and Corona in the region’s Inland area.

In 2011, the Los Angeles Daily Journal named Smith as one of California’s top 25 land use attorneys. 

Smith’s experience will be invaluable to the section’s executive committee, said Steve Deitsch, a BB&K attorney based in Ontario who is a former chair of the Public Law Section’s executive committee.

“Best Best & Krieger has a long tradition of supporting efforts to advance public law; Scott’s appointment reflects the firm’s philosophy in this regard,” Deitsch said.

BB&K attorneys serve as city attorney to more than 30 cites in California and as general and special counsel to dozens of special districts statewide.

Smith will be one of six new members sworn into their new roles on the executive committee during the bar’s annual meeting this week.

He received his law degree in 1985 from the law school at Brigham Young University. At BB&K, Smith is a partner who also holds a key leadership position, sitting on the five-attorney executive committee that guides the law firm and its 200 attorneys who work at nine offices across California and in Washington D.C.