Andrew W. Schwartz
Andrew W. Schwartz joined Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, LLP in 2005 after 22 years in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, where he was head of land use and environmental litigation. Mr. Schwartz is a partner with the firm. His practice areas are regulatory takings, eminent domain, real estate transactions, redevelopment, rent control and land use and real estate litigation.
Mr. Schwartz has been a frequent participant in takings cases as counsel for parties and as amicus curiae. In June 2010, Mr. Schwartz presented the oral argument before an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit in Guggenheim v. City of Goleta, where the City won an important victory for public agencies compelled to defend mobilehome rent control ordinances and other health, safety, and environmental legislation against takings challenges. He was a member of the firm’s winning litigation team in San Remo Hotel v. City and County of San Francisco, in which the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that unsuccessful state-court takings claimaints are not entitled to relitigate their claims in federal court. Mr. Schwartz authored an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the League of California Cities in the Supreme Court regulatory takings case, Lingle v. Chevron, and contributed to amicus briefing in the eminent domain case Kelo v. City of New London. Mr. Schwartz also co-authored an amicus brief on the merits in the Supreme Court takings case Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington, involving a challenge to funding legal services for the poor through Interest On Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA). He has argued more than 40 appeals in the state and federal courts and was the lead attorney in more than 20 cases that have resulted in published decisions.
In 1998, Mr. Schwartz co-founded the Community Land Use Project of California, a special project of California's Institute for Local Self Government. The Project assisted local government agencies in preserving an appropriate balance between individual property rights and community interests. Mr. Schwartz regularly consults with the California League of Cities and California State Association of Counties on amicus participation in regulatory takings and eminent domain appellate litigation.
Mr. Schwartz has written numerous articles and books and spoken widely on eminent domain, regulatory takings, and development impact fees. He is a regular presenter on regulatory takings at the annual conference of the Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute and the civil law conferences of the National College of District Attorneys. From 2000-2005, Mr. Schwartz was an adjunct professor of law at Golden Gate University Law School where he taught a course on Regulatory Takings and Environmental Law. Mr. Schwartz has lectured at Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, ULCA, and Hastings Law Schools. His publications include:
• Commentary on Mobilehome Park Owners Failed to State Facial Takings Claim Based on Adoption of Rent Control Ordinance, Guggenheim v. City of Goleta, 2 CAL. ENV. L. RPTR. 106 (2011)
• California CEB, Land Use Practice, with Kenneth Bley, Exactions, Chapter 18
• San Remo Hotel v. City and County of San Francisco: Victory for Local Control of Land Use, 10 CAL. ENV. L. RPTR. 421 (2005) and 12 ENV. LAW IN N.Y. 247 (2005)
• Andrew W. Schwartz, Reciprocity of Advantage: The Antidote to the Antidemocratic Trend in Regulatory Takings, 22 UCLA J. of Envt'l Law & Policy 1 (2004)
• California Municipal Law Handbook, Contributing Editor, 2003 update
• Douglas Kendall, Timothy Dowling, Andrew Schwartz, Takings Litigation Handbook, Defending Takings Challenges to Land Use Regulation (2000); excerpts from the Takings Litigation Handbook have been reprinted in the September 2000 Zoning and Planning Law Report published by West Group (Vol. 23, No. 8) and the Urban Law Journal
• Andrew Schwartz, William Higgins, Institute for Local Self Government of California, The Basics of Takings Law (1999)
• Andrew W. Schwartz, Overripe Takings Claims Produce Rotten Fruit for Regulatory Agencies, Policy Awareness Quarterly, Center for Government & Public Policy Analysis (Winter 1999)
Mr. Schwartz received the County Counsels’ Association of California Litigation Program Award for 2003, the American Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award 2003, and the Daily Journal California Lawyer of the Year Award (CLAY) for 2006. He has been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer for 2007-2010, a designation awarded to only the top 5% of Northern California lawyers. He is a member of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Lambda Alpha International Honorary Land Economics Society. Mr. Schwartz received his J.D. from UCLA in 1979, where he was on the Law Review, and his B.A. from Stanford in 1976.
Mr. Schwartz is a member of the Bar of the State of California, the United States Supreme Court, and several other federal courts.