Alan M. Cohen

Alan brings thirty-years of experience to the firms Public Law, Labor and Employment and Litigation Practice groups. Alan is a trusted solution-oriented advisor whose public agency devoted practice spans fifteen years as in-house counsel for the cities of Alameda and Vallejo and over a decade in private practice defending public agencies and their law enforcement agencies in civil rights and tort liability cases. Alans specialties include municipal governance, police practices and procedures, labor and employment, energy and utilities, risk management, code enforcement, public contracting and procurement, public finance, the Brown Act, the Fair Political Practices Act and the Public Records Act. He provides a broad range of counseling, regulatory, litigation and transactional services to locally owned and operated utilities including electric power generation, alternative, renewable and clean energy, power purchase agreements and transmission and interconnection agreements. Alans litigation experience includes federal and state trial court and appellate practice which includes police liability and civil rights litigation, dangerous condition and personal injury claims, inverse condemnation, land use, employment, breach of contract, unlawful detainer, tax, public finance, wrongful death lawsuits and writ/mandamus proceedings. In addition, his experience as a litigator provides him with a unique perspective on lawsuit avoidance and he frequently provides counseling, advice, and training to his public agency and law enforcement clients on litigation avoidance, including claims handling and investigation, police policy development and training and sidewalk liability.