Lara Leitner is a partner in the Litigation and Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy practice groups. She has experience with a broad range of general and complex commercial litigation matters with particular expertise litigating land use disputes involving zoning, planning, real estate, property rights, signage, environmental, and construction defect disputes. Lara also has government-related litigation experience regarding government bidding, public contracting, prevailing wages, and municipal affairs. She has experience in both federal and state courts as well as arbitrations, mediations, and administrative proceedings before governmental agencies.
Lara has been involved in all aspects of litigation, including drafting pleadings, preparing motions, conducting discovery, taking depositions, preparing for and participating in trials and arbitrations, and drafting post-judgment motions. She has successfully litigated numerous cases in state and federal court and has achieved favorable settlements through alternative dispute resolution.
Prior to joining JMBM, Lara was an associate at a municipal law firm where she represented numerous cities and special districts in complex litigation matters, including real estate, eminent domain, breach of contract, environmental, water rights, and employment cases in both state and federal court.
Lara received her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law. She served as the Comments Editor for the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy. During law school, Lara developed her land use and environmental law experience as a legal research assistant for the UCLA Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and as a law clerk in the Environment Section of the California Office of the Attorney General in Los Angeles. Lara also studied abroad at the University of Melbourne Law School in Australia and interned at the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society where she counseled the organization on compliance with Hong Kong’s environmental impact reporting requirements.