Attorneys

Eric S. Vail, a Partner of Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP, is Chair of the firm’s forty-one member Public Law Practice Group and serves on the firm’s Management Committee.  During his twenty years practicing public law, he has acquired expertise in the areas of general municipal law, public ethics, land use, redevelopment, and water law.

Representative Clients

• City Attorney, City of Hemet (2005 to present)
  General Counsel, Redevelopment Agency
  General Counsel, Housing Authority
• City Attorney, City of Temple City (2009 to present)
  General Counsel, Redevelopment Agency
  General Counsel Community Development and Housing Authority
• General Counsel, Housing Partners I (a CHDO)
  (2009 to present)
• General Counsel, Riverside County Education Foundation (2008 to 2010)
• General Counsel, Hemet Community Land Trust (an affordable housing provider)
• Special Counsel, Orange County Development Authority
• Special Counsel, Housing Authority County of San Bernardino
• Special Counsel, City of Moreno Valley
• Special Counsel, Redevelopment Agency of the City of Riverside
• Assistant City Attorney, Banning (2004 - 2008)
• Assistant City Attorney, Lake Forest (2001 - 2004)
• Assistant City Attorney, Hesperia (1998 - 2001)
• Assistant City Attorney, Ontario (1992 – 1997)

Experience

General Municipal

• Represented city councils in more than 225 regular and special meetings
• Represented city planning commissions in approximately 350 regular meetings
• Represented cities in two recall elections, two term limits measures, and four citizen initiatives
• Advised city administration through fifteen disciplinary or termination proceedings
• Advised city councils through protracted labor negotiations in multiple years involving 5%, 7.5%, and 15% salary and benefit compensation
• Advised city councils and city administrations in procedures to impose labor agreements after coming to impasse with three public safety unions
• Advised city councils through conflicts of interest and Government Code §1090 violation issues
• Advised city councils through grand jury inquiries and reports
• Advised city councils through councilmember criminal indictments
• Validity of user fees, impact fees, and utility rates assessed for finance departments
• Drafted council protocols & guidelines for ethical decision making

Redevelopment and Land Use

• Assessed over twenty specific plans (total of over 25,000 d.u.) for legal compliance
• Drafted fifteen development agreements for residential and mixed use developments (various cities)
• Drafted and negotiated Development Agreement for Edwards Cinema Theaters in Ontario, Mills Mall project
• Negotiated with owners on behalf of City for expansion of downtown shopping mall in Hemet
• Drafted documents for downtown revitalization projects in three cities
• Advised city in entitlement negotiations with Super Wal-Mart
• Advised city in entitlement negotiations with Costco
• Advised city in entitlement negotiations with Kohls, Home Depot, Lowes, Winco Foods, Fresh and Easy, AMC Theatres, and Edwards Cinemas
• Drafted over fifty owner participation agreements (various RDAs)
• Drafted fifteen disposition and development agreements (various RDAs)
• Created Façade Improvement Programs for two Cities
• Issued prevailing wage option for seventy-five unit senior affordable housing projects, Vista Del Sol in Redlands (HACSB project)
• Legal drafting and compliance for a two hundred unit affordable housing development, Sumida Gardens, Goleta
• Legal drafting and compliance for six affordable housing projects
• Drafted First Time Home Buyer Program documents for three cities

Water Rights

• Represented City of Ontario in operations in compliance with adjudicated Chino Basin.
• Represented City of Hesperia in operation in compliance with adjudicated Mojave Basin
• Represented City of Hemet in friendly four agency negotiation to adjudicate Hemet / San Jacinto Basin
• Represented City of Banning in water rights issues relating to historical flume and diversion from separate watershed
• Represented City of Banning in negotiations with two large residential developers to ensure property water supply assessment and purchase of additional water
• Advised City of Moorpark on acquisition of land in non-adjudicated basin and preservation of water rights
• Advised North Coast County Water District in water transfer issues
• Represented group of eighteen dairy owners and alfalfa farmers in waters rights dispute in Mojave Basin
• Represented group of ten truck crop producers in groundwater adjudication on central coast. 

Litigation Experience & Reported Cases

• City of Barstow v. Mojave Water Agency, 23 Cal.4th 1224 (2000) [Major California Water Rights decision]
• Tried one Federal Bench Trial (Adult Business case)
• Argued three cases before the California Court of Appeal (Water Rights, Trade Secrets, Land use cases)
• Tried two Jury Trials in California Superior Court (Eminent Domain & Fraud)
• Tried six Bench Trials in California Superior Court (Eminent Domain, Tort Liability, Breach of Contract cases)
• Tried fifteen Misdemeanor Municipal Code Violation cases in California Superior Court.