Careers in Housing & Land Use Law

Join HAB for a conversation with attorneys with a variety of private, public, and nonprofit sector experience. Panelists will share insights into the many directions a career in housing and land use law can take. This discussion will focus on how legal advocacy can advance housing production, access, and affordability, and promote economic and environmental justice.

Housers at Berkeley (HAB) is a new interdisciplinary graduate student organization at UC Berkeley focused on promoting housing justice through advancing the creation of more housing opportunities for all.

Lunch is included! Please RSVP here.

Time: February 4th, 12:45pm | Location: Berkeley Law 130 | Duration: 75 minutes

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Panel Members:

Jordan Flanders, Land Use and Planning Attorney and Interdepartmental Counsel for Homeless Services, Oakland City Attorney
Jordan Flanders joined the City Attorney’s Office in 2018 in both the Land Use Unit and Real Estate Unit, and she is now the Interdepartmental Counsel for Homeless Services. She advises multiple City departments on issues related to the City’s shelter crisis, including the City’s encampment management policies, funding opportunities, leasing and services agreements for the City’s shelter programs, and permitting for supportive housing. Prior to joining the City Attorney’s Office, Ms. Flanders practiced land use law at Allen Matkins in San Francisco, where she advised on a wide variety of land use and real estate matters, including resource agency permitting, public–private partnerships, CEQA litigation and compliance, funding mechanisms for infrastructure projects, and public land and development transactions. 

Letitia Moore, Partner at Holland and Knight 
Letitia Moore is a San Francisco attorney with more than 25 years of experience addressing complex environmental, regulatory and land use decisions. Ms. Moore’s experience as a senior managing attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and planning commissioner and mayor of the City of El Cerrito, California, gives her a deep understanding of government decision-making, allowing her to offer an insider’s view for her public, private and nonprofit sector clients. Ms. Moore focuses her practice on complex development projects, land use permitting, environmental compliance and government advocacy. She is well versed in matters involving local land use and state housing laws, compliance with environmental regulations, and the implementation and enforcement of federal and state environmental laws. Ms. Moore’s practice includes land use and environmental due diligence for real estate transactions, in addition to counseling on regulatory compliance and environmental management, planning, and cleanup issues. Ms. Moore advises on regulatory issues ranging from pesticide, hazardous materials and hazardous waste management to California Proposition 65 compliance.

Nick Eckenwiler, Legal Fellow at California Housing Defense Fund
Formerly the California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund, the California Housing Defense Fund’s core mission is to make lasting impacts to improve the affordability and accessibility of housing to current and future Californians, especially low- and moderate-income people and communities of color. CalHDF uses legal advocacy and education to ensure all cities comply with their own zoning and state housing laws and do their part to help solve the state’s housing shortage. In addition to housing impact litigation, CalHDF provides free legal aid, education and workshops, counseling and advocacy to advocates, homeowners, small developers, and city and state government officials. Nick moved to Oakland in the spring of 2022 and joined CalHDF that fall. Before then, he worked as an eviction defense attorney at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, New York. Now that he is back in the Bay Area, he is excited to help tackle California’s housing crisis and enforce state housing laws. 

Panel Moderated by Olivia Grimes, HAB Co-President, JD 2027