Attorneys

Karina K. Samaniego is a Shareholder in DWK’s San Diego office. She has represented school and community college districts, and other public agencies, in negotiating and drafting property, facility, construction, and business agreements. Her expertise includes property purchase, sales, transfers, exchanges, and dedications; ground leases; solar and other energy services agreements; cell tower agreements; developer fee mitigation agreements, and facility use agreements.

Her practice includes guiding clients through the CDE site approval and DTSC oversight processes, assisting school districts with CEQA compliance, managing developer fee payment protests and disputes, and overseeing related litigation matters. She also assists school districts with charter school issues, including facilities requests under Proposition 39, PRA requests and responses, and charter school location disputes.

Prior to working at DWK, Karina was a real estate attorney at several regional law firms where she specialized in complex property transactions for both private and public clients. She has presented seminars and workshops to clients and industry groups, such as California School Boards Association (CSBA), California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) and Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), on topics such as developer fees, solar energy projects, procurement, and school siting regulatory requirements.

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