mgorman@agclawfirm.com
Mr. Gorman specializes in the fields of municipal law, land use, environmental compliance, and water law, representing public agencies and private sector clients in matters such as: Brown Act compliance, public agency law, Subdivision Map Act processing, CEQA compliance, affordable housing development, and redevelopment law. Mr. Gorman currently serves as the Assistant Town Attorney for the Town of Yountville, as the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Montebello, as legal counsel to the Montebello Planning Commission, and as Deputy City Attorney to several other local agencies. As to AGC's private sector clients, Mr. Gorman provides legal counseling to a number of developers and property owners on real estate matters, land use law, environmental issues, and affordable housing rights.
A long-time advocate for environmental causes, Mr. Gorman works in the forefront of the Sustainable Development movement in California, serving as water counsel on a number of matters in both northern and southern California, and serving as environmental counsel to a project in Sonoma County, California, known as "Sonoma Mountain Village" - the first project in North America, and one of just a few in the entire world, to be endorsed by the prestigious One Planet Communities program. Mr. Gorman is also involved in the emerging field of sustainable water rights, and is active in legal matters involving groundwater rights and regulations.
Mr. Gorman has been active both in the firm's transactional section as well as its litigation section, including: representing redevelopment agencies in negotiations and real estate transactions; advising agencies on housing issues and environmental compliance; negotiating water rights agreements; advising local agencies on the Clean Water Act; and interfacing with agencies on water usage and pollution regulation. This experience carries over to legislative issues, where Mr. Gorman has played a crucial role in the passage of AB 1495 (Chavez 2003), an amendment to broaden the scope of Megan's Law by expanding its application to middle schools and private schools. Mr. Gorman has also worked extensively on projects requiring the coordination of multiple funding sources, including redevelopment funds, tax credit financing, private lender funding, and HUD funding pursuant to HOME Program and Section 202/811 Programs.
Mr. Gorman is a graduate of Loyola Law School (J.D. 2000), and successfully completed a year-long externship at the Land Use Division of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office where he served as the youngest member of a federal court trial team that defended the City against a consortium of national businesses seeking to invalidate zoning restrictions. He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, minor in Urban Geography (B.A. 1994), including extensive coursework in Chinese (Mandarin), and study at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
- How to Use Redevelopment Law in Your Real Estate Practice, presentation before the Realtors Commercial Alliance of Orange County, August 2010
Avoid Discrimination Lawsuits in the Tenant Screening Process, published in Apartment Owners Association News, March 2010
The Move-In, Move-Out Process, presentation before Apartment Owners Association of Los Angeles, March 2010
EDUCATION
Juris Doctor, Loyola University School of Law (2000)
Bachelor of Arts, University of California, Davis (1994)
ADMISSIONS
PRACTICE AREAS
Land Use, Environmental, and Real Estate Development
Redevelopment Law
Public Agency - Municipal Law
Federal and State Litigation
Construction Law and Contractor Disputes
Water Law
Environmental Law and CEQA