Attorneys

Marilyn J. Cleveland is Of Counsel in the East Bay and Long Beach offices.  She has represented school and community college districts in the areas of real property, business, finance and construction, including asset management, property acquisition, disposition by sales, leases, joint ventures and exchanges, environmental compliance, public bidding and contracting, energy efficiency and other school construction issues since 1990. She also deals with financing, including parcel tax measures, and land use issues. Marilyn’s civil litigation experience has emphasized real property, eminent domain, inverse condemnation, conflicts of interest, Brown Act, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), other environmental issues and construction.

Marilyn also advises clients and provides training with regard to Proposition 39 bonds, including citizen oversight committees, Brown Act, conflicts of interest, California Public Records Act, parliamentary procedures and other Board issues. She served as chair of the firm’s Business, Property and Construction Practice Group from 2000-2004. Marilyn has been a member of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), and its Legal Advisory Committee for over 20 years. She has been a member of the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) for about 15 years, serving in 2010-2011 on the State Board of Directors, in 2009-2010 on the CASBO Foundation Board, currently as a member and as the 2010-2011 Chair of the statewide Associate Member Committee and previously as an associate member liaison for the Northern Section Board of Directors. Marilyn is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops held by professional associations including C.A.S.H., CASBO, the California School Boards Association (CSBA), the Community College Facilities Coalition (CCFC), the Community College League of California (CCLC), and firm consortia, webinars and workshops. As part of identifying key developments in education business law, Marilyn was instrumental in obtaining an Attorney General Opinion clarifying that Proposition 39 bond funds can be used for staff salaries for bond-related work. Marilyn was lead counsel on the team that prepared an amicus brief for C.A.S.H. when the California Supreme Court considered the case of City of Marina v. Board of Trustees of the California State University (June 17, 2003) 109 Cal.App.4th 1179. She identified the impact of labor compliance early, helped compile a DIR-approved labor compliance program for public entities, and continues to update and advise clients with regard to the evolution of labor compliance. She provided extensive speaking and training regarding each of these topics. She is a member of the Property Law Section of the State Bar of California. She was listed in the 2005 Northern California Super Lawyers under Government Law and is a member of the California Council of School Attorneys. Marilyn has also has received Martindale Hubbell AV-Preeminent rating.

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