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Allison Schutte

Allison C. Schutte

Partner
(415) 995-5823

Intro

Allison specializes in municipal law and assists public agencies with a variety of legal issues. Her work encompasses public water supply, complex long-term rate and revenue sharing agreements, Joint Power Agreements, infrastructure and project delivery analysis, public contracting, solid waste management, rate structure, Proposition 218 compliance, issuer's counsel, disclosure matters, legislative drafting and open government and ethics.

Allison serves as general counsel to the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA), a special district formed by special legislation drafted by Hanson Bridgett attorneys, which represents the interests of 24 cities and water districts, and two private utilities, that purchase water wholesale from the San Francisco regional water system. Allison served as Issuer's Counsel to BAWSCA's inaugural issuance of $336 million in both taxable and tax-exempt bonds, and subsequent 2023 refunding bonds, to finance the prepayment of capital debt owed to the City and County of San Francisco. 

Allison has special expertise in representing water districts, cities and private water users in implementing multi-party recycled water projects. These engagements include negotiating the effluent delivery, customer agreements, financing, design, construction and operation of the projects. She has developed special expertise in implementing a variety of infrastructure projects with public owners and long-term private operators. She continues to serve as special counsel to cities, special districts and private entities for all matters related to public water systems.

Allison also has significant experience with resource recovery and waste reduction projects and solid waste franchise agreements. She serves as special counsel to cities that own their own materials recovery and compositing facilities and special districts and cities that contract out for collection, composting and disposal services. She has expertise in advising on compliance with California's new organics recycling and food recovery law and development of related processing infrastructure.  

Allison leads the firm's Government Section and is past chair of the firm's pro bono committee.

Education

J.D. cum laude, Order of the Coif UC Law San Francisco (Formerly UC Hastings) ( 2000 )
M.P.P. Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government ( 1997 )
A.B. Dartmouth College ( 1991 )

Admissions and Courts

California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Role

Government Section Leader

Bay Area Council, Water Policy Committee

California WateReuse Association, Legislative/Regulatory Committee

California Resource Recovery Association

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

Design-Build Institute of America

San Rafael Chamber of Commerce

Marin County Bar Association

State Bar of California

Forty Under 40, North Bay Business Journal (2009)

James T. Caleshu Award, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (2009)