Overview
Kelly Lynch has served for over 25 years as a public sector advocate, attorney, and administrator helping local government agencies implement solutions to their biggest policy challenges. Kelly's experience as in-house counsel, litigation attorney, and political lobbyist for public sector clients provides her with the ability to navigate difficult projects and deliver successful results.
Work for Clients
Kelly is returning to Richards Watson and Gershon after a hiatus. Her previous work at the firm focused on land use, planning, Coastal Act, and CEQA projects and litigation for the cities of Temecula, Palmdale, Lake Forest, Manhattan Beach, Hacienda Heights, Agoura Hills, Malibu, Buena Park, Fairfield, Hawthorne, Monrovia, and Beverly Hills, as well as the I-5 Consortium Cities Joint Powers Authority and the Blue Line Construction Authority.
Professional Experience
Kelly has spent the past decade as the Executive Director of the Montana League of Cities and Towns, advocating exclusively on municipal issues for the League's members. Kelly also served as legal counsel for both the League and the Community Technical Assistance Program at the Montana Department of Commerce. Prior to her move to Montana, Kelly was Deputy County Counsel for the County of Santa Barbara, working closely with the Community Development Department on land use and planning projects. Kelly is certified with the American Planning Association's American Institute of Certified Planners and a certified Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator.
Professional and Community Affiliations
AICP, American Planning Association
ADACC, Great Plains ADA Center and University of Missouri
Experience
special projects
- Kelly was the primary drafter and lobbyist for the Montana Land Use and Planning Act, an overhaul of the state's century-old planning statutes. The Act has received accolades nationwide for its combination of regulatory modernization and preservation of local land use decision-making. Kelly led the Montana League of Cities and Towns' litigation team in the successful defense of the bill at the Montana Supreme Court.
published opinions
- City of Agoura Hills and City of Malibu v. Ventura County. During her previous employment at RWG, Kelly helped represent two municipal clients in a case challenging Ventura County's approval of Phase I of the notorious Ahmanson Ranch development. The project proposed to develop nearly 3,000 acres of oak woodlands and wetlands located at the gateway of the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area within the upper reaches of the Malibu Creek watershed that contained numerous sensitive plant and animal species. Litigation pressure eventually led to the acquisition of the site, now known as the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Reserve, by the state.
Presentations
Publications
Practice Areas
Focus Areas
Education
J.D., University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, David Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy
M.A., University of California, Los Angeles, Luskin School of Public Affairs
B.A., University of California at Santa Cruz
