Southern California
Counsel to public agencies,
businesses, and individuals.
Martin Adams APC advises cities, special districts, businesses, and individuals in municipal and local government, real estate, litigation, administrative, and appellate matters — from the dais to the Court of Appeal.
Who We Serve
Public agencies, businesses, and individuals.
The same lawyers, the same courts, and the same attention — whichever side of the table you are on.
-
Public agencies
City attorney, general counsel, and special counsel to cities, special districts, and joint powers authorities: the Brown Act and the Public Records Act, conflicts of interest, public contracting, code enforcement, and the litigation that follows an agency decision.
-
Businesses
Purchase and sale agreements, commercial leases, entitlements and development agreements, contract and business disputes, and representation before the planning commissions, councils, and licensing boards that decide how a business may operate.
-
Individuals
Real property and easement disputes, landlord–tenant matters, a permit or license that has been denied, a code enforcement action, a civil claim as plaintiff or defendant, and the appeal when a ruling goes the wrong way.
Practice Areas
Five disciplines, one bench of judgment.
Legal problems rarely stay in one lane. A lease becomes a dispute, a permit becomes a hearing, a hearing becomes a writ, and a writ becomes an appeal. We practice across the whole arc, on whichever side of the table our client sits, so the strategy holds from the first letter to the last brief.
-
Municipal & Local Government
City attorney and general counsel services for cities, special districts, and public agencies across Southern California.
Read more -
Real Estate
Acquisition, disposition, entitlement, and development of commercial and public property.
Read more -
Litigation
Trial representation in California state and federal court, from pre-suit strategy through judgment.
Read more -
Administrative
Representation before regulatory agencies, boards, commissions, and in administrative hearings.
Read more -
Appellate
Appeals and extraordinary writs in the California Courts of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit.
Read more
The Firm
We build the record before anyone needs it.
Most of the matters that become expensive were survivable earlier. A lease read closely before it is signed, an objection made with specificity, an agenda description written with care, a record assembled while the facts are still at hand — these are small disciplines that decide large outcomes.
That is how we work: close enough to the day-to-day to catch the problem early, and experienced enough in the appellate courts to know exactly which details will matter if it ever gets there.
We serve as city attorney and general counsel to public agencies, and we represent businesses and individuals in the same courts and before the same boards. Knowing how an agency reaches a decision is an advantage for a client on either side of the table.
Meet the firmInsights
Notes from the practice.
- Land Use & Real Estate
September 4, 2026
Building a CEQA Record That Survives Review
CEQA cases are won and lost on the administrative record, and the record is largely built before anyone contemplates litigation. Treat it as a project deliverable, support every exemption, and answer comments on the merits.
- Municipal Law
September 4, 2026
Five Brown Act Missteps That Turn a Routine Closed Session Into Litigation
Most closed-session problems are not bad faith; they are an agenda description written in a hurry. Five missteps that turn a routine closed session into a cure-and-correct demand, and what to do about each.
- Litigation & Appeals
September 4, 2026
Preserving the Record: What Trial Counsel Should Do Before There Is an Appeal
Almost every record that cannot support the appeal was fixable at trial, at little cost, by counsel thinking one level up. Specific objections, rulings on the record, and the standard of review, before the notice of appeal.
Contact
Tell us what you are facing.
Describe the matter in general terms and we will tell you candidly whether we are the right firm for it.
Request a consultation