Robinson, Geoffrey L.

Lawyer Overview

Geoff Robinson’s practice focuses on land use, development and real estate litigation. He represents clients in civil and administrative proceedings involving planning and zoning laws, CEQA, development fees and exactions, and public facilities financing. He is an authority on writs of mandate in the trial court and is co-author of the treatise California Administrative Mandamus (CEB, 3rd Ed. 2007) and other publications on civil writ practice. He also has substantial experience in the area of development mitigation and has litigated numerous cases involving challenges to development exactions, mitigation requirements and public financing districts. He has also handled a broad range of water law matters, including a groundwater basin rights adjudication, and appellate litigation involving the validity of a water supply assessment and an Urban Water Management Plan.

Geoff has been an active participant in the firm’s pro bono program, representing individuals, nonprofits and public agencies before state and federal courts, including several matters in the California Supreme Court. He is the recipient of the firm’s first John J. Curtin Public Service Award and the California State Bar President’s Pro Bono Award.

Geoff served as law clerk to Judge Thomas J. MacBride of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California and as extern to Judge Joseph T. Sneed of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Bar Admissions

• California, 1983
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court Central District of California
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of California
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of California
• U.S. District Court Central District of California
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court Southern District of California
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of California

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Contra Costa County Barristers Association, 1988 - Present (Member, Board of Directors)
• Contra Costa County Barristers Association, 1991 - 1992 (President)
• State Bar of California (Member)
• Contra Costa Legal Assistance to the Elderly, 1992 - Present (Member, Board of Directors)
• American Bar Association, 1991 - 1992 (Member, Pro Bono Executive Committee, Young Lawyers Division)
• Contra Costa County Bar Association (Member)
• Contra Costa County Superior Court, 1987 - Present (Judge Pro Tem)
• California Commission on Access to Justice, Language Access Committee (Chair)

Honors and Awards

• The Best Lawyers in America, 2007 - 2009
• Super Lawyers, Northern California, 2004 - 2008
• President's Pro Bono Award, State Bar of California
• John J. Curtin Public Service Award

Classes and Seminars

• Lecturer, University of California Extension, Davis, Riverside, Santa Cruz, 1991 - Present
• Planning Law and Legal Process
• Writs of Mandamus in Land Use and Environmental Law
• Writs of Mandate in the Trial Court

Pro Bono Activities

• State Bar President's Pro Bono Award, 1998 - Present

Past Employment Positions

• United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Hon. Thomas J. MacBride, Law Clerk, 1983 - 1984
• United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, San Francisco, Hon. Joseph T. Sneed, Law Clerk

Education

• University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California, 1983
  Juris Doctor
  Honors: cum laude
  Honors: Order of the Coif
  Honors: Thurston Society
  Honors: Moot Court Board
  Law Review: Comm. Ent. Law Journal, Associate Note Editor, 1982 - 1983
• University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia
• University of California, Berkeley, California, 1978
  Bachelor of Arts
• Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, California

Published Works

• Note, Media Access to Videotapes in Criminal Trials 4.3 Communications & Entertainment Law Journal, 1983
• Action Guide-Meeting Statutory Deadlines, Contractual and Financial Injury Litigation (Co-Author), Continuing Education of the Bar, 1990
• Action Guide-Meeting Statutory Deadlines, Real Property and Land Use Litigation (Co-Author), Continuing Education of the Bar, 1990
• Action Guide-Handling Administrative Mandamus (Co-Author), Continuing Education of the Bar, 1992
• Financing Schools in the 90's-Senate Bill 1287: The Latest on School Fees (Co-Author), 2 Land Use and Environmental Forum 284, 1993
• Northern District of California Digest (Editor), 1986-1990
• Court Denies Vested Rights in the Coastal Zone, Bingham.com
• California Administrative Mandamus,3rd ed, 2007
• Curtin's California Land Use and Planning Law, 2007
• Language Barriers to Justice in California: A Report of the California Commission on Access to Justice, 2005
• Administrative Mandamus Action Guide, 2003
• Meeting Statutory Deadlines, Contractual and Financial Injury Litigation, 2000
• Meeting Statutory Deadlines, Real Property and Land Use Litigation, 2000

Address

Four Embarcadero Center
Suite 2400
San Francisco, CA 94111-4131

Phones

(415) 344-7000

Faxes

(415) 344-7050

Websites

http://www.perkinscoie.com