Claire S. Lai

Claire S. Lai is Senior Of Counsel in Redwood Public Law and currently serves as Assistant City Attorney for the City of South San Francisco, City of Walnut Creek, City of El Cerrito, and Town of Los Altos Hills, as well as the General Counsel for the North County Library Authority. Claire also serves as special counsel to the SSF Conference Center Authority, the Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission, the Ventura County Transportation Commission, and the San Diego Countywide Oversight Board. As a solution-oriented, strategic legal advisor, Claire brings well-rounded and valuable services and perspectives to public entities throughout California.

With over a decade of public law expertise, Claire advises public agencies on a wide range of legal issues and specializes in land use, housing, real estate transactions, and public contracting areas. In her land use practice, Claire has extensive experience with guiding cities and regional agencies on navigating state housing and land use laws, implementing urban planning visions, and adopting local land use blueprints such as general plans, housing elements, zoning ordinances, and specific plans. Relatedly, Claire advises public agencies on all stages of the development project entitlement process and public hearing proceedings, including environmental review, subdivision approvals, and considerations under the Housing Accountability Act, Density Bonus Law, Permit Streamlining Act, SB 35, and other streamlining statutes. Additionally, Claire regularly assists clients with real property transactions and prepares purchase and sale agreements, leases, and other disposition documents. Claire also advises public entities on unique legal areas such as redevelopment agency dissolution law, the Surplus Land Act, and federal and state public utilities regulations. Parallel with her land use counsel role, Claire also has substantial experience in advising cities, transportation agencies, community services districts, and wastewater treatment districts on procuring, negotiating, and managing public works contracts, facility operation agreements, and capital improvement projects. Claire has assisted public agencies through the commencement and close out of significant public facilities including aquatic centers, sports fields, stormwater recapture facilities, library and civic campus facilities, police stations, and municipal service buildings.  

Claire is an update coauthor of housing and land use chapters in the leading comprehensive publication on land use law, California Land Use Practice, published and updated annually since 2006 by Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB). She is an active presenter on land use and municipal law issues for the League of California Cities, CEB, and regional planning organizations such as the American Planning Association (APA). Claire provides specialized training in housing law compliance and ethics/conflict of interest training for public officials and public agency staff throughout the state. Prior to joining the firm, Claire served as Deputy County Counsel at the Merced County Counsel’s Office, where she litigated juvenile dependency issues before the trial court and the Fifth District Court of Appeal. Claire also previously served as Interim Deputy City Attorney at the Milpitas City Attorney’s Office, where she was involved in significant land use projects such as advising on issues relating to the construction of the Milpitas Transit Center and BART station.