Six SMW Attorneys Named to 2027 Best Lawyers in America List

Six Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger attorneys have been recognized in the 33rd edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. The recognitions honor excellent work in the fields of environmental law, land use and zoning law, environmental litigation, and land use and zoning litigation. Rachel B. Hooper, Fran M. Layton, Deborah Miller, Robert “Perl” Perlmutter, Richard [...]

Quiet Title 101: What Public Agencies Need to Know

Public agencies often hold property with complicated title histories and defects tend to surface at the worst possible moment. This article covers when quiet title litigation becomes necessary, what the process requires, and where it goes wrong, with practical guidance based on the experience of Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger attorneys.

Housing Law Guidance: Senate Bill 79 Advisories and Further Resources from HCD

Housing bills often come with interpretive challenges that can frustrate local governments. This article discusses resources from the Department of Housing and Community Development that can help guide implementation decisions, with a focus on SB 79 advisory memos and a primer for the bill’s provisions to facilitate transit-oriented development.

SMW Client San Francisco Baykeeper Challenges SF Bay Sand Mining Leases

Sand might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about finite natural resources. But the sand beneath San Francisco Bay is exactly that: a public resource that took thousands, even millions of years to form, and one we are extracting far faster than nature can replenish. This is a problem […]

SMW Among 842 Firms Filing New Amicus Brief in Challenge to Trump Executive Orders

Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger continues to support law firms that are pushing back against executive overreach by the Trump Administration. Since the firm’s initial support in April, multiple judges have ruled in favor of law firms and the rule of law.

SMW Celebrates New Partners Caitlin Brown, Vaneeta Chintamaneni, and Aaron Stanton

Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger is proud to announce that we welcomed three new partners earlier this year: Caitlin Brown, Vaneeta Chintamaneni, and Aaron Stanton. All three attorneys were associates at the firm before joining the partnership. “Caitlin, Vaneeta, and Aaron have all done fantastic work at Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger, making significant contributions to the […]

Five SMW Attorneys Earn 2026 CLAY Awards for Landmark CEQA Litigation Win

A team of five Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger attorneys have won “California Lawyer Attorney of the Year” (CLAY) Awards from The Daily Journal for their work on a decade-long CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) case in Kern County. The CLAY Awards went to Rachel B. Hooper, Kevin P. Bundy, Susannah T. French, Tori B. Gibbons, […]

A New Home for a Storied Practice

Associates Shanthi Chackalackal and Aidan Freeman in our new office  After more than four decades rooted in Hayes Valley, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP has a new address. In February 2026, our firm relocated to San Francisco’s Financial District, a transition that honors the legacy of where we’ve been while embracing the possibilities of where […]

Navigating the Surplus Land Act for Property of Historic, Open-Space, or Recreational Importance

When a local agency disposes of government-owned real property, it must comply with the Surplus Land Act. Certain transactions are exempt, but agencies must also consider exceptions to the exemptions for lands with certain historic characteristics, located in the coastal zone, adjacent to the State Parks System, or in the Lake Tahoe region. In these areas, agencies should build additional time into the disposition timeline to comply with the Act’s additional steps.