Brett Stroud

Brett is a partner of the firm’s Water Law and Special Districts Department.  His practice focuses on water issues including surface water and groundwater rights, groundwater management (including SGMA), reclamation law, water quality (including the Clean Water Act and Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act), water service administration, water transfers, and proceedings before the State Water Resources Control Board.  He also advises clients on the full range of public law issues, such as the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, conflicts of interest, assessments and fees under Prop 218/26, compliance with CEQA/NEPA, landowner voting elections, government contracts, and other compliance issues.

In addition to general counsel and transactional advice, Brett represents the firm’s clients in various litigation matters, including CEQA challenges, bond/assessment validations, Prop 218/26 challenges, eminent domain actions, federal takings cases, and general business litigation.  He is also experienced in handling civil writs, appeals, and dispositive motions, including summary judgments and special motions to strike under the California Anti-SLAPP statute.

In addition to practicing law, Brett has served as an adjunct professor of law at Trinity Law School in Santa Ana and a volunteer judge for various moot court competitions.  He graduated in 2014 from the Pepperdine University School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Pepperdine Law Review.

EDUCATION:

J.D., magna cum laude, Pepperdine University School of Law, 2014
B.A., Anthropology, magna cum laude, Torrey Honors Institute, Biola University, 2010

ADMITTED:

California State Courts, 2014
United States Supreme Court, 2019
United States District Court, Central District of California, 2014
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2016
United States District Court, Central District of California, 2014
United States District Court, Eastern District of California, 2019
United States District Court, Northern District of California, 2019

HONORS, AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS:

Order of the Coif, 2014
Balfour Scholarship, Phi Delta Phi, 2013
Hagman Scholar, UCLA Extension, 2013
Bakersfield Life Magazine’s “20 Under 40 People to Watch,” 2021

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS:

Kern County Bar Association, 2018-Present
California Bar Association, 2014-Present
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy, 2015-Present
Water Association of Kern County, 2018-Present
Association of California Water Agencies, Federal Affairs Committee, 2022

PUBLICATIONS:

Association of California Water Agencies, Summary of Appellate Cases Decided by the Courts in 2019-2020 (Editor, Transparency and Ethics)
Association of California Water Agencies, Summary of Appellate Cases Decided by the Courts in 2018-2019 (Editor, Transparency and Ethics)
Brett A. Stroud, Preserving Home Rule: The Text, Purpose, and Political Theory of California’s Municipal Affairs Clause, 41 Pepp. L. Rev. 3 (2014)