Lozano Smith

Lozano Smith, a full-service law firm with seven offices in California, has opened a new office in Sacramento. The office will service public agency and school district clients. Jerome M. Behrens and Thomas E. Gauthier will head the Sacramento office. Prior to joining Lozano Smith, Behrens was Chief Deputy County Counsel of Fresno County, and Gauthier was an attorney with Olson, Hagel and Fishburn in Sacramento.

Behrens has represented a variety of public agencies throughout California for the last 30 years. He specializes in public agency and general education law with an emphasis in business, real property, construction and litigation. He also advises clients in the funding and acquisition of capital facilities and is nationally recognized as municipal bond counsel in the Bond Buyer's Municipal Marketplace Guide. Behrens has a J.D. from Hastings College of Law (1974) and a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley (1967). He also holds a Master of Laws in Taxation.

Gauthier counsels school districts and private entities in the areas of labor and employment, open meetings, elections, political activity, ballot measures, redistricting, ethics and conflict-of-interest laws. He has broad experience in the general aspects of education law. He has represented education and other government entities in both administrative hearings and litigation related to employment, finance, conflicts of interest, political redistricting and open meeting laws. In addition, Mr. Gauthier has counseled a diverse array of private entities and individuals on compliance with elections and campaign finance laws. Gauthier received his J.D. from UC Davis (1996) and his B.A. from UC Riverside (1992).

Downey Brand

Downey Brand recently added ten new associate attorneys. Jarrod Burch, Robert Cloninger, and Elizabeth Grussenmeyer join the firm's Business Department. Nirav Desai, Sean Filippini, Neil Forester, and Veronica Ramirez join the firm's Litigation Department. Maya Ferry, Jason Holder, and Whitney McGuire join the firm's Natural Resources Department.

Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP

Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP announced the addition of Patrick K. Hanly as a partner in the firmís Sacramento office. Mr. Hanly joins Nossaman from the Department of Justice where he served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California for 15 years and tried over 60 cases. His practice focuses on all types of white collar criminal cases including representing companies and individuals in connection with criminal and regulatory investigations, as well as parallel civil and administrative proceedings. Hanly received his B.A. from the University of Texas and earned his J.D. from the University of Southern California.

Legacy Law Group

Legacy Law Group is proud to announce and welcome their newest attorney, Mauriah Conway. Conway joins them from the law firm of Beyer, Pomgratz and Rosen. She is a graduate of the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Her focus will be assisting clients with estate planning; trust, probate, and conservatorship administration; succession planning; and special needs trusts.

James C. Paul

Employee benefits lawyer James C. Paul has moved his practice to Sacramento's largest law firm, Downey Brand LLP. Paul joins the firm as a partner in the law firm's 40-attorney business department, adding to the firm's substantial and growing practice in tax, employment law, business transactions, and deferred compensation.

Formerly a shareholder at Chang, Ruthenberg & Long PC, Paul brings more than 17 years of legal experience to Downey Brand. His practice includes working with qualified retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, welfare plans, stock based compensation plans, and all aspects of employee benefits law. Paul's experience also includes pension and welfare benefits litigation, fiduciary litigation and representation of Taft-Hartley trust funds. He received his J.D. from Georgetown University in 1987 and his B.S. from Colorado State University in 1984. In addition to California, he is also admitted to practice law in Arizona.

McDonough Holland & Allen PC

McDonough Holland & Allen PC has added Of Counsel Steven P. Rudolph to the firmís public law practice group. Rudolph joins McDonough with 15 years of municipal and public law experience, most recently as City Attorney for Folsom.

In his 10 years with the City of Folsom, Rudolph, was chief legal advisor to the City Council, 10 boards and commissions and 13 city departments. He counseled on issues such as affordable housing, regulatory compliance involving the city's sewer facilities, construction disputes on major public projects valued at more than $100 million, contract disputes, and election ballots, among other diverse matters.

Prior to his work for Folsom, Rudolph was Deputy County Counsel for Sacramento County, where he was counsel to the Planning Commission, Water Agency and several other county departments. He specialized in land use and planning, water supply and drainage, and environmental compliance. He also defended litigation in state and federal courts, namely a case brought against Sacramento County by welfare rights activists on behalf of the United States for alleged violations of the Federal False Claims Act, in which Rudolph was successful in getting the matter dismissed after numerous appeals all the way up the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rudolph earned his J.D. from the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento (1986) and his B.S. from the United States Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut (1979).

Kleinfelder, Inc.

Kleinfelder, Inc. announced that attorney Thomas Adams has joined the firm in its Oakland, California, office as the environmental planning and permitting (EPP) leader for the firmís Northern California / Bay Area region. In addition to growing Kleinfelderís EPP market presence in Northern California, he will work with clients to provide guidance on permitting and planning issues.

A nationally recognized leader in environmental planning and permitting, Adams has 12 years of experience providing staff and clients legal and regulatory guidance on projects related to NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act), CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act), wetlands, endangered species and CWA (national Clean Water Act).

Adams joins Kleinfelder from Jones and Stokes Associates, where he acted as environmental counsel and instructed staff in classes on NEPA, CEQA, water rights and environmental permitting. Prior to joining Jones and Stokes, Adams was an environmental and land use attorney with Downey, Brand, Seymour & Rohwer, LLP, and Abbott & Kindermann, LLP. After volunteering for the U.S. Peace Corps as a development/agricultural officer in Sri Lanka, Adams began his career with Bronco Wine Company before joining California Department of Water Resources as a law clerk while pursuing his degree. Adams also teaches classes at UC Davis Extension, a University of California, Davis, affiliate, and on NEPA, CEQA and environmental permitting.

Adams has also been a guest lecturer at U.C. Berkeley. Adams earned his juris doctor degree from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento, and his bachelorís degree in political science with emphasis in environmental policy from California State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a member of the California State Bar and the County of Sacramento Bar Association, Environmental Section.

September / October 2005