Jack H. Rubens

Jack H. Rubens is a partner in the Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental Practice Group in the firm's Los Angeles office. He has also served as Chairman of the firm's Pro Bono Committee.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Rubens has a diverse land use, land use litigation and real estate transactional practice. In his administrative land use work, Mr. Rubens has represented developers, property owners, municipalities, school districts and nonprofit organizations on a variety of land use, zoning and redevelopment matters involving federal, state and local governmental agencies, including the development of mixed-use urban projects, regional shopping centers, residential tracts, industrial facilities and coastal projects. He counsels clients on a variety of matters relating to CEQA and has supervised the preparation of numerous EIRs and other CEQA documents. He represents clients on matters involving all aspects of historic preservation law, including rehabilitation tax credits and conservation easements. He has investigated the status of entitlements and undertaken complex land use due diligence on behalf of prospective purchasers and institutional lenders with respect to real property located throughout California. He has also negotiated and drafted a variety of real estate contracts between private parties and governmental agencies, including disposition and development agreements and owner participation agreements.

Mr. Rubens has successfully prosecuted and defended numerous land use lawsuits on behalf of developers, municipalities, property owners and nonprofit organizations. Many of those lawsuits have involved claims under CEQA and NEPA. He has litigated a substantial number of takings and other constitutional claims, as well as claims involving the Community Redevelopment Law, general plan and zoning consistency, interference with vested rights and historic preservation laws.

Mr. Rubens' transactional practice has included the documentation of numerous purchase and sale transactions, real property exchanges and donations, and deed-in-lieu transactions. He has prepared a broad range of documentation for residential and commercial projects, including reimbursement and cost-sharing agreements for project infrastructure, school facilities agreements, easement and restrictive covenant agreements and parking agreements.

Professional Qualifications and Activities

Mr. Rubens has written and lectured frequently on CEQA and other land use topics. Recently, he served on the faculty for a two-day course on CEQA for California judges, sponsored by the Judicial Council of California. He is a past President of the Los Angeles Conservancy, the largest local historic preservation organization in the United States. He has also represented the Conservancy and other organizations in their efforts to preserve historic structures throughout California, including the Beverly Hills Waterworks, the Ambassador Hotel, the Cathedral of St. Vibiana, Bullocks Wilshire and the Leonis Adobe. He is the principal author of A Preservationist's Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act, first published in 1988. The California Preservation Foundation honored Mr. Rubens with its 1998 Preservationist of the Year award for his successful effort to save St. Vibiana's Cathedral and, more recently, both he and the firm received the President's Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy for their work on behalf of historic preservation.

Mr. Rubens has received an AV® rating from Martindale-Hubbell®. This is the highest rating an attorney can receive for quality of legal service and ethics.

Mr. Rubens is a registered lobbyist with the City of Los Angeles.

Education

• J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1982
• B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1979

Admissions

• California

Honors

• Top Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use, Chambers & Partners', 2009

Articles

• Mr. Rubens is the principal author of A Preservationist's Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act, first published in 1988.