1.5 Hours MCLE; 1.5 Legal Ethics

Dianne Jackson McLean has over 30 years of community economic development, real estate, tax-exempt financing, relocation, land use, and housing experience. Her practice includes the representation of former redevelopment agencies, public housing authorities, and other public agencies in major economic development projects and housing developments, including but not limited to shopping centers, hotels, public-private public housing developments under various financing programs provided by local, state or federal government agencies.  She serves as general counsel and special counsel to public housing authorities and local city and county agencies in on-going agency administration, open meetings and public records requirements, relocation issues and related matters.  She has substantial experience in all aspects of complex real estate closings, including the drafting of and/or reviewing and negotiating purchase and sale agreements, land disposition and development agreements, lenders loan documents, tax-exempt bond documents; resolving title issues, environmental issues, including issues related to hazardous materials and related matters.  She prepares public agencies’ loan documents for rental housing and ownership housing developments, including secondary resale documents.

Ms. Jackson McLean also represents nonprofit housing developers in the development and construction of low and moderate-income rental and ownership housing, including mobile home parks.  She provides all necessary legal services to develop various projects, including negotiating contracts to acquire land, review and negotiate lender documents from both the private and public sectors, review and negotiate partnership documents in transactions involving low-income housing tax credits.

In addition, Ms. Jackson McLean is a frequent lecturer and/or panel speaker at various conferences related to affordable housing, economic development, and ethics.

Celia Lee is a partner in the firm with over twenty-five years of litigation experience. Her practice encompasses a broad range of civil litigation, investigations, and advice on behalf of public agencies, nonprofit, and private entities in municipal, real estate, housing, land use, and business law disputes.

Immediately prior to joining the firm, Ms. Lee served as a Deputy City Attorney in the Office of the City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco for a decade.  She was a member of both the Neighborhood and Resident Safety/Code Enforcement Team, representing the City and County and its departments and employees in its civil enforcement of state and local public safety and public nuisance laws and the intersection of those laws with land use concerns, and the Trial Team, where she litigated and tried to a jury a wide variety of matters for several City departments.  From 1994 to 2004, she practiced commercial litigation and insurance litigation at two San Francisco law firms.

Ms. Lee has spoken on several panels for the California Lawyers’ Association, Real Property Law Section annual conferences on various topics, including the Housing Accountability Act and ethics in real estate transactions.

Ms. Lee actively engages in community service around the Bay Area.In 2009, Ms. Lee was a recipient of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s (NAPABA) “Best Lawyers Under 40” Award.

Robert Mills is a partner in the firm with an emphasis of practice in transactional real estate involving the development and preservation of affordable housing.  Mr. Mills focuses on structuring transactions and obtaining HUD approvals for projects which utilize federal assistance, including, tax credits, FHA mortgage insurance, flexible subsidy loans, 236, 221(d)(3) and (4), 223(a)(7), 223f and 232 programs, Section 8, public housing subsidies, CDBG, HOME or other assistance from HUD.  Mr. Mills previously worked as a senior attorney at HUD and has worked closely with HUD’s Office of Public Housing, Office of Housing (FHA), Office of Community Planning and Development, and Office of Counsel, both locally and in Washington, D.C.  During his nine-year tenure with HUD, Mr. Mills handled numerous transactions involving the acquisition, rehabilitation, preservation and development of new and at-risk housing. 

Mr. Mills represents nonprofit entities and public agencies including counties, cities and housing authorities, on the development, financing and management of low and moderate-income housing projects and programs.  Mr. Mills has extensive experience in forming nonprofit corporations, the Federal and State tax exemption application process, and in the representation of nonprofit affordable housing developers throughout the development process, including the negotiation of acquisition agreements and the preparation of loan documents with public and private lenders.

Mr. Mills also represents numerous nonprofit organizations in the development of affordable and supportive housing for persons with special needs or who are homeless.