California Attorneys | Attorney Profiles

Linda B. Reich

San Diego, California
Associate

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Linda B. Reich has been practicing law since 1979 and has been an associate with the law firm since 1988. Ms. Reich has represented numerous cities and municipalities throughout the State of California in both state and federal courts including the California Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court.

While Ms. Reich has practiced in many areas of civil law, her expertise has been in defending municipalities against various land use claims, including particularly representing municipal and other clients in complex administrative trial and appellate proceedings. She has been involved in over twenty reported appellate decisions in both state and federal courts and was one of the attorneys who participated in Yee v. City of Escondido wherein the United States Supreme Court unanimously upheld the legality of the City's right to enact mobilehome space rent control.

Ms. Reich received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She received her J.D. from New College of California School of Law in San Francisco. She has worked for the Public Defender for the County of Marin doing juvenile criminal law and has also practiced family law and estate planning.

We represented a non-profit organization which developed 116 low income rental townhomes and a six story office building in the City Heights neighborhood in San Diego. Soon after completion the occupants began to experience water intrusion and mechanical problems. We brought suit against the general contractor and architect for construction defects. The defendants claimed our client's damages were in the range of $4 million or less. The matter settled during trial for $11,375,000.

We represented 70 residents against the park owner who tried to illegally remove the residents from the park so that he could develop the property as a commercial shopping center. The owner tried to force the residents out by failing to maintain the park and closing the common area facilities at the park. When the residents tried to sell their homes, the park owner refused to allow the homes to remain in the park. A jury awarded $11,700,000 to the residents. The verdict was reduced by the trial judge and a judgment was entered against the defendants in the amount of $9,917,717.

San Diego Gas & Electric condemned a permanent power line easement over the Stonebridge community in Scripps Ranch which was to replace a temporary easement set to expire. SDG&E initially offered the Stonebridge developers $759,000 for the easement. We were then retained and demonstrated the substantial value of the property interests being condemned and the damages that resulted to the remaining property. We obtained a $10,650,000 in settlement before trial on behalf of the property owner developers.

We represented a group of industrial property and business owners who alleged that the County of Riverside had fraudulently induced them to enter into a contract to support the formation of a Mello-Roos district, and then breached that contract by not providing all the promised infrastructure improvements. After a six week trial, obtained a $3.9 million jury verdict based on the jury's finding of fraud and breach of contract.

We represented a City and Water Company in a complex water/power case involving not only Indian water rights but also the first contested Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydroelectric project re-licensing case. See also Public Law 100-675,102 Stat. 4000 (1988) and amendments. (Firm members also participated in the drafting of federal legislation designed to settle thirty-year dispute over rights to the San Luis Rey River.)