Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Martin N. Burton is a partner in Gilchrist & Rutter. His practice focuses on land use and real estate transactions, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), zoning and entitlement.

Mr. Burton is a former executive with Unocal Corporation, where he managed that company's $700-million real estate portfolio. He has an extensive background in CEQA and has represented both private and public agency clients in some of the region's most significant land use projects, inluding Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Alameda Corridor and the LAX Master Plan.

Mr. Burton received his J.D. degree in 1985 from Yale Law School. He earned his B.A. magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa in 1981 from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Representative Experience

OC Shopping Center Project:  Expedited the complete modernizing and rebuilding of a 400,000 sq. ft. retail shopping center in a prominent Orange County beach city.  Acting on his advice, the client processed the entire development through nondiscretionary actions, saving at least a year and several hundred thousand dollars while quickly bringing an upgraded mix of services and greater safety to the city.

Community Day School:  Blocked the establishment of a Community Day School (anticipated to be populated with students having a history of violence) which was proposed to be constructed adjacent to an elementary school for developmentally disabled students in a rural farm community in central California. 

LAX Modernization Project:  Advised the City of Los Angeles on NEPA and CEQA requirements in key Responses to Comments on its EIS/EIR for the most massive modernization project ever proposed for LAX.

Santa Ana USD:  Represented the Santa Ana Unified School District in a 2-year battle to force the City of Tustin to include the District in its reuse plan for of the former Tustin Marine Corps Air Station.  Ultimately obtained a settlement worth over $100 million.

Ambassador College:  As special counsel to the City of Pasadena, advised on all aspects related to the preparation of the EIR for a 2000-unit residential and mixed-use project.

Alameda Corridor:  Successfully negotiated the largest utility line relocation of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Project involving pipelines of the Metropolitan Water District.

Unocal Real Estate:  As Manager of Real Estate, managed 1,400 service station properties and thousands of miles of pipeline rights-of-way throughout California and the West.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall:  Supervised the preparation of the EIR on behalf of Los Angeles County for this project, including a 55-story office building, 400-room hotel, retail shops and the Concert Hall itself.

Areas of Practice

• Real Estate Transactions
• Land Use

West Practice Categories

Real Estate Law, Land Use & Zoning

Bar Admissions

• California, 1987

Professional Associations and Memberships

• California Department of Real Estate, 1986 - Present (Real Estate Broker)
• Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine, 1994 - 1995 (Board Member & Coordinating Editor, Real Estate Law Special Issue)
• London Town Press, Publisher of "The Jean-Michel Cousteau Presents" series of wildlife books for children. (Founder & Chairman)

Honors and Awards

• "Who's Who in Environmental Law", Los Angeles Business Journal, 2008

Education

• Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut, 1985
  J.D.
• University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 1981
  B.A.
  Honors: magna cum laude

Published Works

• "Winning Development Strategies for Land Use Attorneys: Practical Advice for Advocating Development Projects Before Public Agencies", Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine (January 1999)
• "Preparing an EIR for Battle: Four of the Most Common Legal Challenges and How to Meet Them", Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine (January 1993)

Address

Professional Corporation
1299 Ocean Blvd.. Suite 900
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Phones

310-393-4000

Faxes

310-394-4700

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.gilchristrutter.com