Attorney Details
Print to PDFManuela Albuquerque is the firm’s Director of Complex Public Litigation. She combines wide-ranging expertise across the full spectrum of public law issues with significant litigation experience before state and federal trial and appellate courts. Ms. Albuquerque served as the Berkeley City Attorney for twenty-two years – from 1985 to 2007, the longest tenure of any city attorney in Berkeley’s history, garnering numerous awards for her outstanding work. She advised the Berkeley City Council, Housing Authority, City Manager and staff, and over forty, nine-member City boards and commissions, while also litigating cases at every level of state and federal courts in conjunction with a team of in-house litigators and subject matter specialists that she developed and managed. She has personally litigated some of Berkeley’s most significant cases and filed amicus briefs on behalf of cities and counties in many important cases.
Ms. Albuquerque was the President of the City Attorney’s Department of the League of California Cities from 1994-1995, serving on the Department’s Executive Committee for three years. She represented city attorneys on the League of California Cities Board of Directors from 2003-2005 and in that capacity served on the City Attorney’s Department Executive Committee for two years. Through her litigation advocacy, she has helped shape the law in favor of municipalities in many different areas including the First Amendment, equal protection, impairment of contract, takings, due process, CEQA, charter city powers, tax issues, rent control, subsidized housing, and housing element law. She has served on many important City Attorney Department Committees including ethics, due process, and Proposition 218. Ms. Albuquerque was the recipient of a California Lawyer of the Year award and a Top Women Litigators’ award in 2007 for her advocacy in Evans v. City of Berkeley before the California Supreme Court. She was selected as the Public Lawyer of the Year by the State Bar of California’s Public Law Section in 2005.
Representative Matters
- Evans v. City of Berkeley
- Morongo Band of Mission Indians v. State Water Resources Control Board
- RUI One Corporation v. City of Berkeley
- More...
Presentations
- Anti-SLAPP and Section 1021.5 Motions, Webinar, July 18, 2013
- Demystifying Due Process for Decision Makers: The Top Ten List, League of California Cities Annual Conference, September 2012
- Brown Act Compliance for City Legislative Bodies: The Top Ten List, 2012
- More...
Publications
- Ethical Principles for City Attorneys, May 2005
City Attorneys' Department - Practicing Ethics: A Handbook for Municipal Lawyers, 2004
League of California Cities - Joint Defense of Suits brought Against Public Entities and Their Employees: Are Conflicts Manufactured or Real, 2000
Vol. 23, No. 4, Public Law Journal 5 (2000) - More...
Recognitions
- Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers - Martindale-Hubbell - 2013
- Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers - Martindale-Hubbell - 2012
- Preeminent Attorney - Martindale-Hubbell - 2012
- Top Municipal Lawyers - Daily Journal - 2012
- Lifetime Achievement Award, South Asian Bar Association - 2010
- California Lawyer of the Year Award, California Lawyer Magazine - 2007
- Top Women Litigator Award, Daily Journal - 2007
- California State University, Bakersfield Alumni Hall of Fame - 2007
- Public Lawyer of the Year Award, California State Bar Public Law Section - 2005
- Overall Community Service Award, California State Bar Minority Bar Coalition - 2005
- Role Model Award, Clara Folz Feminist Association, Hastings College of the Law - 2002
- Trailblazer Award, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association - 2000
- Asian Pacific American Leadership Fellow - 1999
- Outstanding Contributions to the Community, Indians for Collective Action - 1999
- Asian American Women of Hope in the United States, Bread and Roses Cultural Project - 1997
- Outstanding Service to the South Asian Community, South Asian Bar Assocation - 1997