Land Use and CEQA Litigation
Murphy & Evertz attorneys have extensive experience in all forms of land use and related litigation.
Areas of specialty include:
- The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
- The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
- California water law
- The California Planning and Zoning Law
- The Subdivision Map Act
- Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) proceedings
- Real estate development infrastructure financing/municipal finance
- Civil rights land use litigation
- Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act
Our practice in this arena involves representing both public agencies and private clients throughout the administrative process, as well as our representation of our clients before both State and Federal Courts. We regularly try cases. This presents opportunities to our clients as due to our reputation of being trial lawyers, we are often able to settle cases favorably for our clients.
Our team routinely provides advice on the reasonableness of proposed dedications, exactions and conditions of approval associated with the granting of land use entitlements. While we are trial lawyers, we believe working with our clients at the administrative level is key to success in subsequent litigation. We are therefore actively involved in the review and analysis of screen check CEQA documents and other project documents prior to their release to the public, assisting public agencies and private developers with substantive and procedural matters associated with land use approvals and preparing staff reports and resolutions associated with project approval. We believe our clients benefit if the same lawyers provide representation both during the administrative process and in any subsequent litigation. Murphy & Evertz attorneys have handled many leading edge CEQA cases, including representation of clients before appellate courts.
We are also uniquely qualified to represent clients in water rights and water use related matters. At the administrative and planning level, we provide services involving analysis of water rights, acquiring new supplies and analyzing water supply availability for new developments, including the preparation of water supply assessments and water verifications. Murphy & Evertz attorneys have extensive experience with water rights litigation, including representation of clients in adjudications of groundwater basins and stream systems, including the development of physical solutions.
From start to finish, we achieve excellence and successful results for our clients.