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Professional Experience
Mr. Weston is a founding partner of the firm and Chair of the Land Development Department. He has played a major role in building Weston Benshoof´s land development practice into one of the largest and most comprehensive in California, providing a full range of legal services in real estate, land use, water resources, CEQA/NEPA, endangered species, lobbying and other development-related matters.
Mr. Weston has provided coordination and strategic direction for some of the most complex and controversial development projects in Southern California, working closely with development teams to obtain entitlements and defeat court challenges. His experience includes master planned communities, residential and mixed-use centers, commercial and retail outlets, industrial facilities, landfill and mining operations, and a variety of other projects. His practice includes all aspects of land use permitting and land use/environmental litigation. He also has an extensive background as an environmental and commercial litigator with substantial trial experience, both jury and non-jury, in the federal and state courts.
As Chair of the firm´s Political Strategies Committee, Mr. Weston leads the effort to build solid relationships with public officials in the City and County of Los Angeles, surrounding jurisdictions, and state government. Because of his strong connections to political and business organizations, he regularly assists clients with a range of political issues affecting their developments. Mr. Weston is a registered lobbyist before the City and County of Los Angeles and the State of California.
Mr. Weston is a leader in the Southern California business community. He served as Chair of the Central City Association for two years (2005-2006), and serves on its Executive and Policy Committees. He also serves as a board member of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the City Club on Bunker Hill.
Mr. Weston´s clients include Aeroterm/North American Terminals, Apollo Real Estate Advisors, Browning-Ferris Industries, Fox Entertainment Group, Kaiser Ventures, Kawada Company, Lehman Brothers, Lennar Communities, Miller Brothers Development, New Urban West, North Hills LLC, Pacific L.A. Marine Terminal LLC (Pacific), a subsidiary of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., Palmer Investments/Las Lomas Land Co., The Related Companies, Republic Services, Rottman-Froman Communities, Sage Communities, Stonebridge Holdings, The KOR Group, and Washington Mutual Bank. He has also represented several energy companies in the siting and development of energy and related facilities in California.
Education
University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D., 1971
University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1968
Professional Memberships and Activities
Central City Association (Executive Committee, Policy Committee); Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (Board of Directors); City Club of Los Angeles (Board of Governors); Pacific Coast Regional Corporation (Board of Directors); Urban Land Institute; Lake Arrowhead Country Club (President). | 