Updates and Articles
CEQA Administrative Records: Challenges and Considerations When Asserting Claims of Privilege
Public agency attorneys often find it challenging to determine whether a privilege or exemption forecloses the inclusion of certain materials in CEQA administrative records. This is especially so when evaluating whether the deliberative process exemption to the California Public Records Act applies. This article outlines considerations that agency attorneys should consider when making these determinations.
Read MoreUpdate on Statewide November 2024 Ballot Measures
Californians once again showed a healthy appetite for using bond funding to address some of the state’s most pressing challenges, but they were selective in what they approved. Read about the outcomes of statewide ballot measures that were on the November ballot that had the potential to change the financial and regulatory landscape for public agencies.
Read MoreShute, Mihaly & Weinberger Named to 2025 Best Law Firms List
SMW once again has been named a Best Law Firm by Best Lawyers, a peer-reviewed guide to lawyers and law firms in the U.S. The firm was previously named to this list in 2024, 2022, and 2020. As in previous years, the firm was again ranked as a highly prestigious National Tier 1 Best Law Firm in Land Use and Zoning Law. New this year, the firm also received a National Tier 2 ranking in two categories, Environmental Law and...
Read MoreSMW Attorney Heather Minner Joins the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council Board of Directors
Congratulations to SMW partner Heather Minner for joining the Board of Directors for the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council. The Council works to plan, promote and sustain a connected hiking, cycling, and equestrian trail on the ridgelines around San Francisco Bay. Together with its partners, the Council has dedicated over 400 trail miles, linking people, parks and open space for today and future generations. Heather is shown...
Read MoreShute, Mihaly & Weinberger Receives California State Bar’s DEI Leadership Gold Seal
The State Bar of California has awarded SMW its 2024 DEI Leadership Seal to recognize the firm’s successful efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace and in the legal profession. The firm is a Gold tier recipient, indicating they have implemented at least nine of the ten evidence-based Action Items the State Bar recommends law firms and other legal employers implement to promote an inclusive...
Read MoreCEQA Not The Cause of California’s Affordable Housing Gap
SMW Of Counsel Andrew Schwartz authored an article published in the Los Angeles-San Francisco Daily Journal refuting the contention of the California Building Industry Association and California government officials that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is responsible for the shortage of affordable housing in California. As experts have documented, the principal barriers to housing production—in California...
Read MoreSan Francisco Faces Significant Penalties and Improvement Costs Due to Aging Sewer System
In May 2024, the U.S. EPA and San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board sued the City and County of San Francisco for violations of water quality laws stemming from operation of its sewer system. Other public agencies can learn from San Francisco’s situation and protect themselves from future financial liability by better understanding their water quality obligations.
Read MoreEight SMW Attorneys Named to Best Lawyers in America 2025 List
The Best Lawyers in America Awards just released its 2025 Edition, which recognizes eight Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger attorneys. The awards acknowledge excellent work in the fields of environmental law, land use and zoning law, environmental litigation, and land use and zoning litigation. Ellison Folk, Rachel B. Hooper, Fran M. Layton, Deborah Miller, Robert “Perl” Perlmutter, Andrew W. Schwartz, Richard S. Taylor,...
Read MoreLand Restored to Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation
Winter King, Andrew Schwartz, and Tori Gibbons won a victory for the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation of the Cortina Rancheria after a six-year battle to retake possession of the Nation’s land leased to a waste disposal company. The company failed to timely build and operate a waste disposal and recycling facility on the Nation’s land as required by the lease but nonetheless sought to tie up the land for another 25 years. The...
Read MoreRematriation of Shellmound in Berkeley
Andrew Schwartz, Of Counsel with the firm, assisted the City of Berkeley in partnership with a coalition of the Indigenous Ohlone tribes, the Confederated Villages of Lisjan (CVL), to rematriate a 2.2-acre site in Berkeley to CVL. The City’s purchase is one of the first instances of a city transferring land back to its original occupants. Of the $27 million purchase price for the land, the City contributed $1.5 million and...
Read MoreThe Role of Local Public Agencies in Land Back
A conservation easement granted by the City of Oakland to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust demonstrates how local public agencies can play an important role in “Land Back,” an Indigenous-led movement that aims to strengthen tribal sovereignty and support cultural revitalization by returning land to Indigenous stewardship.
Read MoreUpdate re: Local Governments Urge U.S. Supreme Court Not To Ignore “Givings” When Considering Unconstitutional “Takings”
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued its decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, examining whether the heightened takings analysis set forth in two previous cases applies to legislatively imposed development impact fees. A unanimous Court agreed that the Nollan /Dolan standard does apply. The Court remanded the case to the California state courts for further proceedings
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