Public Law Section Pioneers Cutting Edge Conferences in Conjunction with the University of California

By John M. Applebaum*

The Public Law Section continues to forge its relationship with University of California Law Schools by developing conferences featuring leading scholars and practitioners. Here is a summary of upcoming conferences the Public Law Section has scheduled in 2015.

Administrative and Public Environmental Law Conference at U.C. Hastings: This conference, co-sponsored with the State Bar’s Environmental Law Section, will kick off the series on June 12, 2015, featuring U.C.L.A. and Stanford Law School Professor Michael Asimow as keynote speaker. Influential public officials and leading law firm practitioners will discuss topics including successfully navigating administrative agencies, CEQA writ practice, remedies and appeals, preparing the administrative record, S.B. 743, climate change developments, the drought’s effect on public entities, regulatory takings, and much more.

Open Meeting and Public Records Act Conference at U.C.L.A.: This conference continues the Public Law Section’s tradition of offering California’s leading conference on the Brown Act and the Public Records Act. The conference, scheduled for_June 19, 2015, will feature San Jose City Attorney Richard Doyle as keynote speaker discussing the City’s groundbreaking case over its obligation to produce city council members’ personal emails, texts, and voicemails that may involve public business. The conference will address current developments in the Brown Act and PRA, avoiding Brown Act traps, open meeting remedies, public record exemptions, producing records involving public business but controlled by third parties, and ethical issues in disclosing third-party records. Speakers will include leading experts in the field, including Michael Colantuono, Christi Hogin and Michael Jenkins, Ted Prim, and many more.