A Southern California law firm
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
Whichever side of the table you are on.
The same lawyers, the same courts, and the same attention for every client.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Municipal & Local Government
City attorney and general counsel services for cities, special districts, and public agencies across Southern California.
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Real Estate
Acquisition, disposition, entitlement, and development of commercial and public property.
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Litigation
Trial representation in California state and federal court, from pre-suit strategy through judgment.
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Administrative
Representation before regulatory agencies, boards, commissions, and in administrative hearings.
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Appellate
Appeals and extraordinary writs in the California Courts of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit.
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.
- Municipal Law
November 5, 2026
The Police Side of a City’s Immigration Policy: What the Values, TRUST and TRUTH Acts Require Alongside SB 580
A city’s SB 580 policy governs the counter and the records room. The police department is governed directly by the Values, TRUST and TRUTH Acts, which carry their own prohibitions, two annual reports to the Department of Justice, and a community-forum duty that falls on the council. What those statutes require, what the 2026 session changed for January 1, 2027, and what to do before then.
- Municipal Law
October 17, 2026
The January 1 Deadline Under SB 580: What the Attorney General’s Model Policies Require of California’s Public Agencies
Senate Bill 580 requires every California state and local agency to implement the Attorney General’s model policies on interactions with immigration authorities, or an equivalent, by January 1, 2027. The model was published in July. What the statute requires, what the policies on facility access, information demands and databases say, what the guidance leaves undefined, and what a governing board should do before the end of the year.
- Municipal Law
October 13, 2026
SB 922 Puts Street Repair Back in the Refuse Rate: What Changes After Rogers v. City of Redlands
On August 27, 2026, Governor Newsom signed SB 922, which amends Vehicle Code section 9400.8 to reject Rogers v. City of Redlands (2025) 112 Cal.App.5th 667 and confirm that a street-repair component in a city’s refuse, water or sewer rates is not a prohibited charge for the privilege of using its streets. Effective January 1, 2027. What the Court of Appeal decided, what the bill restores, and the Proposition 218 and refund rules it leaves in place.
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