USC Gould School of Law 2010 Real Estate Law and Business Forum

A highlight of the Forum will be our development-focused plenary session. The session will feature a discussion by Roger Moliere (Chief, Real Property Management and Development, MTA) explaining how transit-oriented development is about to transform East L.A. into a signature urban space; Jane Ellison Usher (Immediate Past President, LA City Planning Commission) outlining matters you need to know about signage in Los Angeles; Carlyle Hall (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld) rounding up key land use and CEQA cases last year; and Fernando Villa (Pircher, Nichols & Meeks) providing the latest guidance for analyzing climate change in the CEQA context.

A dedicated "track" of development programming will straddle the morning and afternoon. In the morning, discussion will focus on Opportunities, Challenges and Barriers to Renewable Energy Projects in the Southwest U.S., identifying issues and options facing renewable energy projects, including finance opportunities, permitting and entitlement challenges unique in the Southwest U.S., and transmission line and infrastructure concerns. The panel will feature Lee Bailey (Managing Director, US Renewables Group), Todd Larsen (Southern California Edison), Anne Mudge (Cox, Castle & Nicholson), Marc Sabine (Solar Energy Consultant), and Gregory Thorpe (O'Melveny & Myers).

In the afternoon, Bryan Jackson (Editor, Green Building Update, Adjunct Professor, USC MRED program, and Chair, Green & Sustainable Construction Practice Group, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis) will be joined by experts with first-hand knowledge about laws and targets that are driving green leasing. Vicki Harding (Pepper Hamilton), Michael Meyer (DLA Piper), and Alan Whitson (President, Corporate Realty, Design and Management Group and Chair, Model Green Lease Task Force) will explain The Green Leasing Revolution.

Later, discussion will focus on the Transit-Oriented Development: Opportunities and Challenges, in a panel featuring Mitchell Menzer (Paul Hastings), Professor Robert Cervero (UC Berkeley), Scott Johnson (Johnson Fain), and Paul Keller (Founding Principal, Urban Partners). The panel focuses on the changes coming in the next ten years, and how to use them to your advantage. Over the course of the day, we'll have over 50 nationally renowned speakers fill you in on the latest developments in this changing market. With over 500 registrants, the Forum has been the highest attended real estate law and business conference in the area for the past two years. The 2010 Forum promises to be another showstopper!