Marc L. Zafferano, Esq.

About Marc

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Marc is a seasoned and accomplished attorney with nearly four decades of experience in all aspects of municipal law for cities and special districts, as well as representing public and private employers in labor and employment law issues.  Prior to joining our firm, Marc served as City Attorney for the cities of San Bruno and Belmont, Deputy City Attorney for the cities of San Carlos, Foster City and Woodside, and District Counsel for the West Bay Sanitary District and San Mateo County Harbor District. 

 

In recognition of his professional contributions, Marc was elected Chair of the League of California Cities Emergency Services Committee and served on Legal Advocacy Committee, and he was also elected President of a 26-member self-insurance JPA for five consecutive years.  Marc has delivered papers about a wide variety of municipal law topics at various conferences and webinars for the International Municipal Lawyers Association, League of California Cities, California Association of Joint Powers Authorities, and National Association of Administrative Law Judges.

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Municipal Law

 

As a former City Attorney and General Counsel for a number of California cities and special districts, Marc is well versed in a broad range of municipal law issues, including: Brown Act and open meetings law compliance, conflicts of interest, business licensing, code enforcement, elections and redistricting, CEQA compliance, land use, real estate, planning and zoning (including General plan and specific plan adoption, amendment, and implementation and the Subdivision Map Act), government policy and public integrity, Joint Powers Authorities (JPAs), public finance, contracts and bidding, Public Records Act, public safety, records retention and destruction, subpoenas, telecommunications, and trial and appellate advocacy.

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As San Bruno’s city attorney, Marc managed the legal aspects of the city’s recovery from the September 2010 PG&E gas pipeline explosion, including recovery from PG&E to rebuild and improve public infrastructure in affected neighborhood, provide compensation to the City, and fund future fire mitigation.  He created and launched the San Bruno Community Foundation, a public entity nonprofit, to manage expenditure of settlement funds received from PG&E, resulting in over $56 million in community grants, strategic initiatives, and college scholarships that directly benefit City residents, including funding a new aquatic and recreation center. 

His other accomplishments as City Attorney for San Bruno and Belmont include revising the City's Municipal Code for consistency with state statutory and case law, directing and managing legal work for dozens of major residential and commercial developments, bringing successful development, tax, open space, and other initiative measures to ballot, and negotiating complex franchise agreements for garbage and cable services.

 

Litigation Experience

 

Marc is experienced in municipal and general litigation including torts, employment law, probate, real estate, contracts, writs and appeals.  As City Attorney, Marc has obtained a 100% litigation success record in City writ cases and appeals, and represented the City in a published case, San Bruno Committee for Economic Justice v. City of San Bruno, holding that City's sale of property for commercial use is not subject to referendum.  Marc has successfully litigated cases at trial and on appeal involving First Amendment claims, employee discrimination, and breach of commercial lease, and won inverse condemnation and writ cases at trial and on appeal.  He has tried to verdict over a dozen jury and non-jury cases, and established a 100% success record for public entity trials, appeals, and Law and Motion matters over a 10-year period.

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Between 1998 – 2011, Marc also served as Judge Pro Tempore and arbitrator for the San Mateo County Municipal and Superior Court.

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Workplace Investigations

 

As an experienced workplace investigator, Marc has conducted investigations related to workplace misconduct, sexual harassment, race discrimination, retaliation, sexual orientation harassment, theft, fraud, favoritism, misconduct, and abusive conduct. 

 

Education & Professional Affiliations

 

Marc graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Distinction from Stanford University.  He received his legal education from the Hastings College of the Law.  Marc is a member of the California State Bar Association and San Mateo County Bar Association.