It is with great sadness that we pass along news of the passing of Terry Andrus. Terry devoted his entire legal career to the service of the Orange County community. He started out as a junior Deputy County Counsel in 1974 and eventually rose through the ranks until he was appointed County Counsel in 1991….
James M. Donich recently completed negotiations on behalf of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) with the Federal Transit Administration for a Federal New Starts Grant in the amount of $149 million for the OC Streetcar Project. The Full Funding Grant Agreement was executed by the parties at a ceremony at the Santa Ana Train…
Ricia R. Hager was a speaker at the recent California State Bar Environmental Section conference. Ms. Hager spoke on the topic, “Living the Good Life: The Intersection of Land Use, Climate Change, and Toxic Air Contaminants.” The presentation explored the intersection between the State’s greenhouse gas reduction policies (under AB 32, SB 375, SB 97,…
In a recent span of two weeks, WSS was successful in defending four different public agency clients against civil rights/tort liability claims before the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal and California Court of Appeal. In two different state cases, the plaintiffs alleged various state and federal civil rights violations against the county and its…
WSS attorney, Esther P. Lin, was recently a featured speaker at the 19th annual conference on eminent domain matters sponsored by CLE International in San Diego, California. Ms. Lin presented on the use of drone technology in eminent domain trials, which was well-received by the audience of attorneys, appraisers, and right-of-way professionals.
Gary Weisberg has been selected as one of Southern California’s Top-Rated Lawyers by an independent nominating committee. Mr. Weisberg’s selection is based on his expertise in the fields of eminent domain and land use litigation. His personal biography will be published in the upcoming Southern California’s Top Rated Lawyers magazine and distributed throughout the State.
We represented a private landowner (Cadiz, Inc.) that is developing a project in partnership with a local water district to store billions of gallons of groundwater in a large aquafer in San Bernardino county. Several different groups, including a mining operation and various environmental organizations, filed six separate lawsuits primarily on environmental grounds, challenging the…
We successfully defended a sanitation district against a petition for writ of mandate seeking a former employee’s back wages and reinstatement to his position with the district. The employee alleged that he was terminated without due process while on disability leave. The trial court denied the petition, finding that the petitioner was properly terminated for…