Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Thursday, May 13, 2010

 

Page 3

 

Loeb & Loeb, Elkins Kalt Expand Land Use Practices

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Joins Stroz Friedberg

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

Law firms Loeb & Loeb LLP and Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside LLP both announced the addition of new land use attorneys yesterday.

Nicole Kuklok-Waldman joined Loeb & Loeb LLP’s Land Use and Regulatory Affairs Practice as senior counsel in the firm’s Los Angeles office, while John Bowman made a lateral move from Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP to become a partner with Century City-based Elkins Kalt.

Kuklok-Waldman, formerly of Latham & Watkins, said she was “thrilled” by the move, praising her new firm as having “built a group of top notch attorneys and advisors who have an intimate knowledge of the regulatory process in California and can produce results for clients.”

Linda Bernhardt, managing director of Loeb & Loeb’s Land Use and Regulatory Affairs Department, opined that Kuklok-Waldman’s work in Los Angeles “has been extremely notable, including her successful defeat of a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument nomination for a 1960s resource building,” adding that “[her] impressive track record speaks for itself.”

Kuklok-Waldman practices in all areas of environmental law, working primarily on land use and real estate development, the firm said. She provides counsel with regard to planning, land use and zoning regulations, and related environmental matters associated with complex development projects of all types.

A graduate of UC Berkeley and Georgetown Law School, Kuklok-Waldman was admitted to the State Bar in 2003.

Bowman, a land use attorney with more than 20 years of experience in real estate development and permitting, praised his new colleagues at Elkins Kalt as “some of the best and brightest in their fields,” while partner Keith Elkins remarked that Bowman’s land use background was “a welcomed asset to out firm.”

According to the firm, Bowman’s practice involves representing clients in administrative proceedings before state and local agencies, obtaining government entitlements for commercial, residential, industrial, institutional and mixed-use projects throughout Southern California, and representing clients in litigation involving challenges to land use decisions.

After graduating from Iowa State University, Bowman attended Southwestern Law School and was admitted to practice in 1988.

In other news, international digital forensics, cybercrime response and electronic discovery firm of Stroz Friedberg has announced the addition of Jason Gonzalez as managing director of its Los Angeles offices.

Gonzalez joined the firm on Tuesday after nearly eight years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of California, including two years as deputy chief of General Crimes, where he prosecuted cases involving white collar crime, tax fraud, credit card fraud and money laundering, the firm said.

James Aquilina, executive managing director of Stroz Friedberg’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices, opined that Gonzalez’s prosecutorial experience “will be a tremendous asset to our clients” and “augment Stroz Friedberg’s truly global expertise.”

Stroz Friedberg said Gonzalez will be responsible for leading and conducting investigations involving digital forensic analysis, cybercrime investigations, electronic discovery matters, and data breach response for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, major law firms, individuals and organizations.

Gonzalez previously served as a San Francisco deputy city attorney and as a litigation associate at O’Melveny & Myers. He graduated from the University of Michigan before completing his law degree at Stanford University and was admitted to practice in 1995.

 

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