Lois Bobak, Of Counsel

Practice Areas

• Civil Rights
• Labor/Employment
• Land Use
• Public Law
• Tort Liability

Practice Description

Lois Bobak has represented local public agencies in both litigation and transactional matters for her entire career.  Ms. Bobak has briefed and argued over 75 cases in state and federal appellate courts defending public entities on a wide range of issues, including constitutional claims (free speech, excessive force, wrongful arrest, due process, and equal protection), land use disputes (inverse condemnation and writs challenging local land use decisions), environmental claims, breach of contract claims, wrongful termination, and employment discrimination claims.  She has drafted and argued hundreds of successful dispositive motions in state and federal trial courts.

Professional Activities

Ms. Bobak is a member of the appellate section of the Orange County Bar Association.

Representative Matters

• • Ninth Circuit:
    • Successfully defended summary judgment in favor of a transit agency and bus operator in a case alleging interference with a constitutional right to travel, excessive force and violation of due process
    • Successfully defended partial summary judgment and a subsequent jury verdict finding no wrongful arrest, excessive force, or due process violations after a disruptive speaker was removed from a city council meeting
  • State Appellate Courts:
    • Obtained a published decision upholding a city’s cyber café regulations against a First Amendment challenge (Vo v. City of Garden Grove (2004) 115 Cal.App.4^th 425)
    • Successfully defended a favorable trial court judgment against a contractor seeking $10 million in damages for treatment of allegedly contaminated water encountered during construction of a road on a former military base
    • Obtained a published decision holding that a public entity is not required to pay for separate counsel retained by a public employee who rejects an entity-paid joint defense (City of Huntington Beach v. Petersen Law Firm (2002) 95 Cal.App.4^th 562)
    • Obtained a published decision holding that a public entity is not required to pay the salary of a public employee who has no paid leave available during the pendency of a disability retirement application (Rodarte v. Orange County Fire Authority (2002) 101 Cal.App.4^th 19)
  • Trial Courts:
    • Successfully prosecuted a petition for writ of mandate challenging a state law that would have required that local Children & Families Commissions across the state transfer $995 million in voter approved tobacco tax revenues to the state, including over $81 million from the firm’s clients
    • Successfully defended the sale of the assets of a local hospital district in United States Bankruptcy Court against a 1090 conflict of interest challenge
    • Successfully defended a challenge to a capital facilities capacity charge imposed on all new development by a regional wastewater treatment agency against an allegation that the fee violated Proposition 218
    • Successfully defended a city against a petition for writ of mandate challenging the revocation of a development agreement permitting the operation of sober living facilities and recovered attorneys’ fees for the city. Subsequently obtained a permanent injunction against the continued operation of the business following a bench trial

Education

• University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (J.D., with Distinction, Order of the Coif, 1986)
• University of California, Irvine (B.A., Cum Laude, 1983)