Miriam Montesinos

Miriam Montesinos is an associate in the Real Estate, Land Use, Natural Resources and Environmental practice group in the firm's San Francisco office. Ms. Montesinos is a member of the firm's Diversity Committee and co-chair of its Diversity & Inclusion Attorney Network. She is also a member of the Recruiting Committee.

Areas of Practice

Ms. Montesinos' practice emphasizes land use, environmental and climate change matters, including obtaining development entitlements, compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and administrative proceedings and litigation.

Ms. Montesinos has worked on a wide variety of land use projects throughout California, including retail developments/shopping centers, office and industrial parks, residential, mixed use developments, and long-range strategic plans for developers. As part of her practice related to CEQA compliance, Ms. Montesinos has advised on the legal adequacy of numerous EIRs for projects throughout California.

Prior to joining Sheppard Mullin, Ms. Montesinos was a member of the real estate practice group at Steefel, Levitt & Weiss. During her time at Steefel, Ms. Montesinos was co-chair of the Diversity Committee, and also participated in the firm's Hiring Committee, Summer Associate Committee, and Associates Committee . Before Steefel, Ms. Montesinos was member of the California Land & Resources practice group at Baker & McKenzie.

As part of her Urban Studies degree at Stanford, Ms. Montesinos studied a wide variety of subject areas, including land use planning, environmental studies, political science, and sociology. After graduating from Stanford, Ms. Montesinos worked as an intern for one year at the Stanford Planning Office.

Education

• J.D., University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, 1999, member of the California Law Review
• A.B., Stanford University, 1995

Honors

• Recipient, Harmon Writing Award for her note titled "It May Be Silly, But It's an Answer: The Need for Contingent Valuation Methodology in Natural Resource Damage Assessments."

Memberships

• Member, San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association
• Member, Bar Association of San Francisco - Equality Committee on Diversity
• Member, Hispanic National Bar Association
• Member, Urban Land Institute - Young Leaders
• Member, ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers)
• Member, CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women)
• Member, SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association)

Articles

• Analyzing Climate Change Under CEQA in a Climate of Uncertainty, Judy V. Davidoff, Arthur J. Friedman, and Miriam Montesinos, Real Property Law, Vol. 30, September 1, 2007

• Miriam Montesinos, "It May Be Silly, But It's an Answer: The Need to Accept Contingent Valuation Methodology in Natural Resource Damage Assessments," Ecology Law Quarterly, v. 26 (1999), no. 1, pp. 48-79.

Speeches

• Miriam Montesinos was on the Minority Attorney Panel for the Pilipino American Law Society (PALS), in Berkeley on February 20, 2008.
• Miriam Montesinos (SF) moderated a Lorman seminar, "A Year in the Life of a Development Deal: Land Use Impacts on Real Estate Transactions," in San Francisco on December 4, 2007.
• Miriam Montesinos spoke at, "Land Use Issues for Development Projects - The Latest Issues and Trends," at the Real Estate Round Table, in San Francisco on August 9, 2007.
• Judy Davidoff, William Fleishhacker and Miriam Montesinos (SF) spoke at a Lorman seminar, "A Year in the Life of a Development Deal: Land Use Impacts on Real Estate Transactions," in San Francisco on August 16, 2005.