New directions for Ellman Burke Hoffman & Johnson
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Howard N. Ellman, Jay L. Paxton, Thomas M. Sherwood, Leslie M. Browne, Michael P. Brody and James W. Andrew will join Buchalter Nemer, a law firm, as shareholders.
Michael J. Burke, Jodi Fedor, Diane K. Hanna and Christine W. Griffith will join SSL Law Firm as partners.
Michael J. Burke, a co-founder and former Managing Director of Ellman Burke Hoffman & Johnson, specializes in land use development, redevelopment, environmental regulation, historic preservation and related litigation. Mr. Burke has successfully represented developers throughout the planning and entitlement processes for urban high-rise, suburban and coastal zone office, residential, golf-course, hotel, commercial/retail and industrial projects and has prevailed in trial and appellate court litigation involving land use, Coastal Act and environmental challenges to these projects.
Mr. Burke wrote the Half Moon Bay Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan and secured its approval by the California Coastal Commission; obtained the entitlements for the Ritz-Carlton Resort Hotel in Half Moon Bay and the Silicon Valley Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto’s University Circle redevelopment area; obtained the entitlements for three high-rise office and two high-rise residential projects in San Francisco; and often serves as an expert witness in land use matters for private developers and local governments.
From 1970 to 1976, Mr. Burke was associated with the San Francisco firm of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, specializing in complex commercial litigation including real estate, antitrust and securities fraud class actions.
Mr. Burke is a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of California and Bar Association of San Francisco (Sections on Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental Law). Mr. Burke sits on the Transportation and Housing Committees of the Bay Area Council and the joint Legal/Legislative Advisory Committee and Land Use Subcommittee of the California Business Properties Association.
He is affiliated with the California Building Industry Association Select Conference on Industry Litigation, Lambda Alpha International (a land economics honorary society), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). Mr. Burke was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Marin Country Day School from 1991 through 1997.
Mr. Burke has been an author and instructor for California Continuing Education of the Bar's (CEB) Advanced Real Property Series on land use and environmental law, development agreements, vesting tentative maps and secured real estate transactions. He has spoken at programs sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and various building industry associations and has served as an adjunct professor of land use law for Golden Gate University School of Law.
Mr. Burke earned his law degree cum laude from Harvard University in 1970 and his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa) from Brown University in 1967. Mr. Burke has been recognized by his peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America and a Northern California Super Lawyer. Mr. Burke received the Mission Language and Vocational School Business to Community Advocacy Award in 2007.
Jodi B. Fedor specializes in all types of real property transactions. Her practice focuses on the representation of developers and owners, as well as corporate and other users, of commercial real estate, including acquisitions and sales, financing, leasing, structuring and development matters, as well as lease and loan restructuring.
For many years, Ms. Fedor has had an extensive practice representing developers in all transactional aspects of development projects, beginning with property acquisition and financing, and proceeding through leasing, property management, sales, and lease enforcements and workouts.
In recent years, she also has represented users in complex corporate campus acquisition and development projects. On behalf of developers, her recent projects include: the leasing and financing of corporate headquarters and campuses for several technology companies; the development, leasing and financing of a 500,000 square foot downtown office project; and numerous large scale office and R&D build-to-suit leases.
On the user side, she represented a leading global technology company in the acquisition of multiple properties from unrelated sellers for development as a new corporate campus facility, and is working with a prominent Silicon Valley technology company on the acquisition and development of its new corporate campus in San Jose. She also recently represented a major university in the establishment of its new West Coast Campus at NASA Ames Research Park, which is a closed military base.
Ms. Fedor also has handled numerous purchase and sale transactions, including the acquisition, financing and disposition of over 200 multi-family residential and mixed-use projects nationwide on behalf of a privately-held investment/management company; has represented both borrowers and lenders in numerous construction, bridge and permanent financings; and has written and negotiated numerous office and retail leases and subleases for both landlords and tenants. She also frequently advises landlords and tenants regarding credit enhancement, lease enforcement and bankruptcy risks, and lease terminations and restructurings.
As Deputy City Attorney with the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office in the mid-1990s, Ms. Fedor served as primary counsel to the City’s Real Estate Department and Public Utilities Commission Bureau of Land Management. From 1988 to 1995, she practiced with the Real Estate Group of Morrison & Foerster, where her work included loans and dispositions of REO assets for financial institutions, sales and acquisitions for pension fund advisors, structuring of equity investments in U.S. real estate for Pacific Rim companies and shopping center leasing nationwide for an international retail company.
Ms. Fedor is a member of the State Bar of California, Bar Association of San Francisco, American Bar Association, the Golden Gate Chapter of Lambda Alpha International, and San Francisco Commercial Real Estate Women.
Ms. Fedor is author of "Construction and Development Lending" (Practising Law Institute, 2004), "The Borrower’s Financing Agenda: A Practical Guide" (Practising Law Institute, 2001), and "Negotiating Flexibility into the Lease" (CLE International, 2004); Co-author of "Commercial Leases and Insurance" (Practising Law Institute, 1997); and Update Author for several chapters of “Office Leasing: Drafting and Negotiating the Lease" (California Continuing Education of the Bar, 2001). She is a frequent speaker on a variety of real estate topics for Practising Law Institute, CLE International, California Continuing Education of the Bar and the San Francisco Bar Association.
Ms. Fedor earned her law degree cum laude in 1988 from Northwestern University School of Law, where she served as associate editor of the Northwestern University Law Review, and her Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1985. She has been listed in "Northern California Super Lawyers" published by San Francisco Magazine, each year since 2006.
Diane Hanna specializes in land use, environmental regulation, alternative energy and related litigation. Ms. Hanna has successfully represented clients through the public review and entitlement process for major land use projects invoking the California Environmental Quality Act, Planning and Zoning Law, Subdivision Map Act, Endangered Species Act, wetlands regulations and other areas of natural resource and environmental law.
In many of these projects, she has successfully worked with public officials and project opponents to achieve project support, avoid litigation and facilitate timely construction. In those matters that have resulted in litigation, Ms. Hanna has successfully represented developers in trial and appellate court proceedings in both state and federal court. She has also represented developers and property owners as plaintiffs in litigation involving inverse condemnation and other constitutional claims.
Ms. Hanna has served as land use and environmental counsel for large-scale real estate transactions. She represented a large utility company in the environmental review and due diligence for the acquisition of a large wind energy facility in the Mojave desert. Ms. Hanna was part of the Ellman Burke team representing an investment fund in the acquisition of 44 office buildings in a major portfolio transaction in Silicon Valley and a leading technology company in the assemblage of nine office buildings in a series of off-market transactions.
Ms. Hanna is a member of the State Bar of California (Real Property and Environmental Law Sections), the Bar Association of San Francisco (Environmental Law Section), and the American Bar Association. She is also a member of Urban Land Institute and the U.S. Green Building Counsel. Ms. Hanna has lectured on CEQA and Planning and Zoning Law for Lorman Education Services and UC Berkeley Continuing Education (CEQA Update).
Ms. Hanna earned her law degree, cum laude, in 1999 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. During law school, she was a judicial extern to the Honorable Charles A. Legge, Judge of the United States District Court, Northern District of California.
She was a member of the Hastings West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law and Policy and actively competed in the moot court program. In 1995, Ms. Hanna received her Bachelor of Arts degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. While at Cal Poly, Ms. Hanna competed on the intercollegiate track and field team as a heptathlete and served as the team captain. In 2009, Ms. Hanna was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine.
Christine W. Griffith specializes in land use counseling and litigation. She represents corporations, institutions, property owners and commercial and residential developers in administrative proceedings and litigation related to land use and development including obtaining permits and conducting environmental review for their projects. Ms. Griffith has successfully represented clients before local planning commissions, city councils, boards of supervisors, and other regulatory bodies.
She also represents clients in judicial proceedings in both state and federal courts. She has successfully defended project entitlements against environmental and other challenges in both the Superior and Appellate courts and has asserted the rights of property owners against municipal and state government agencies in the judicial context.
Ms. Griffith’s practice emphasizes the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), property rights, zoning and planning laws, and the California Coastal Act. Her experience includes siting of renewable energy projects, such as wind farms. In addition, she has experience with wetlands and endangered species, Brownfields, and the regulation of contaminated property under Superfund and RCRA. She counsels companies in compliance with federal and state environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and EPCRA.
Prior to joining Ellman Burke Hoffman & Johnson, Ms. Griffith was a shareholder with the law firm of Stoel Rives LLP practicing in their land use and environmental group. Ms. Griffith is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco, the State Bar of California, the American Bar Association, The Commonwealth Club and the Urban Land Institute. She is also a member of the Bay Planning Coalition. Ms. Griffith is a frequent author and lecturer. ■