Overview
Lori Liu is a senior attorney in the Public Law Department, providing advice on a wide variety of issues that municipalities face, including police and fire department matters, the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, ethics, land use and zoning laws, public works, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and matters involving natural resources and the environment.
Work for Clients
Lori currently serves as Assistant City Attorney for the cities of San Bruno, Fairfield, and Millbrae, as Deputy City Attorney for Suisun City, and as General Counsel for the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority and the Belvedere Tiburon Library Agency. She has also represented the Cities of Davis and Mill Valley, and joint powers authorities, including Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority and East Bay Community Energy Authority. She has also represented numerous health care districts, counties and special districts.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining RWG, Lori practiced litigation for over 15 years, representing both public and private sector clients in the areas of commercial litigation, real estate litigation, employment litigation, eminent domain, inverse condemnation, land use, and environmental matters.
Lori began her career as a litigation attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, representing clients in complex commercial and securities litigation. She then worked at Buchalter Nemer, where she practiced commercial litigation, second-chaired two jury trials and handled numerous mediations, arbitrations, and litigation matters.
In addition to her legal experience, Lori served from 2013-2017 in an elected capacity on the Brisbane City Council in San Mateo County, culminating in her year as Mayor in 2017. While on the City Council, she served as a representative to a number of regional government organizations, including the League of California Cities, Association of Bay Area Governments, City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG), the Peninsula Clean Energy Board of Directors, the San Mateo County Libraries Joint Powers Authority Governing Board, Airport Community Roundtable, and San Mateo County Council of Cities Executive Board. During her term as Brisbane Mayor, Lori led the City Council public hearings and deliberations related to the Brisbane Baylands Project and Council's decision-making regarding the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Baylands Development, contributed to the adoption of the City's first ever Precise Plan for Parkside at Brisbane Village, and supported preparation efforts to construct the City's new Brisbane Library.
After completing her term on the Brisbane City Council, Lori practiced law at Renne Public Law Group, focusing on labor and employment litigation and advising public agencies in all aspects of municipal law.
Honors & Awards
Northwestern University Law Review, Senior Manuscript Editor
California Democratic Party - AD 22, elected and appointed as delegate, 2014-2020
Professional and Community Affiliations
Member, California State Bar
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Federal District Court for the Northern District of California
Emerge California, Class of 2008
Experience
Published Opinions
- County of Napa v. 3030 Airport Road, LLC (Napa County Superior Court). Represented the County in an unlawful detainer case against an airport hangar tenant arising from the tenant's unlawful use of the property in violation of the lease. Lori assisted the trial team in obtaining a complete victory following a court trial, and was instrumental in preparing pre-trial pleadings and motions.
- Poletti v. City of South San Francisco (San Mateo County Superior Court). Represented commercial property owner in inverse condemnation action related to City's storm drain upgrade project. Lori prepared all pre-trial pleadings and second-chaired the jury trial, resulting in a $617,000 jury verdict, plus attorney's fees, in favor of the property owner.
- Uno Fratelli v. Citibank (Napa County Superior Court). Represented financial institutions tenant in lease dispute with its landlord arising out of landlord unreasonably withholding its consent to assignment. Lori prepared all pre-trial pleadings and second-chaired the jury trial.
- Client v. Doe (Santa Clara County Superior Court). Represented a shopping center developer in a leasing dispute with its anchor tenant arising out of the tenant's breach of the covenant of continuous operations. As lead associate, Lori prepared the case for trial and obtained a settlement in excess of $4 million.
- Nunez v. Reilly (San Mateo County Superior Court). As lead counsel, Lori obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, freezing $85,000 in an escrow account, on behalf a restaurant business that was defrauded into purchasing the business.
Presentations
Publications
Practice Areas
Focus Areas
- Brown Act & Open Government
- CCA's
- CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) (Litigation)
- Civil Litigation
- Conflicts of Interest and Local Government Ethics
- Discrimination & Harassment
- Eminent Domain (Litigation)
- Inverse Condemnation
- Joint Powers Authorities
- Litigation (Labor & Employment)
- Police Practices (Litigation)
Education
J.D., Northwestern University School of Law
B.A., cum laude with high thesis honors, Tufts University
