Intro
Claire represents public entities, private companies, and individuals in real estate and environmental matters with an emphasis on water-related issues.
Her practice includes transactional law, compliance counseling, and litigation. She regularly handles the following types of matters:
- Public agency general counseling
- Contract negotiation, drafting, and review
- Real property sales, acquisitions, and leasing
- Boundary disputes
- Easement and “Right of Way” negotiation and interpretation
- California Environmental Quality Act compliance and litigation
- Public finance issues, including Prop. 218 compliance, Sate Revolving Fund loans, and bond issuances
- Eminent domain and inverse condemnation
- Clean Water Act and Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act litigation and compliance
- Water, solid waste, wastewater, recycling, and recycled water contracts, ordinances, laws, and regulations
- Railroad-related matters
- Open government law, including the Public Records Act and the Brown Act
- California Government Claims Act
- Local agency formation commission matters
- Joint powers authority matters
She serves as General Counsel to Irvine Ranch Water District, Trabuco Canyon Water District, and as special counsel to a variety of other public agencies across the state.
Areas of Focus
Education
Admissions and Courts
American College of Real Estate Lawyers (Fellow 2019 – present, Vice Chair of the Public Policy Committee 2021 – present)
Gamble House Conservancy, Board of Trustees
Association of California Water Agencies Legal Affairs Committee, Vice Chair (2020-2021)
USC Real Estate Law & Business Forum, Executive Committee, 2015 - present
Los Angeles County Bar Association, Real Property Section (Chair, 2018 - 2019, Vice Chair, 2016 - 2018, Chair of Land Use, Planning, and Environmental Law Steering Committee, 2008 - 2010)
California Association of Sanitation Agencies, Chair, Attorneys Committee, 2016 - 2018
Greater Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council, Board Member, Land Use and Planning Committee, 2006 - 2009
"Hanson Bridgett in Growth Mode, Particularly in LA," Daily Journal (September 2022)
"10 New California Laws That Might Affect Your Everyday in 2022," Capital Public Radio (December 2021)
"Parched California Takes Aim at Water Rate ‘Bounty Hunter’ Suits," Bloomberg Law (October 2021)
"Gamble House Conservancy Suing USC," Pasadena Now (September 2020)
"Gamble House sues USC for allegedly failing to give up funds with house," Pasadena Star-News (September 2020)
"New Federal Law Requires PFAS Users to Report to EPA," Northeastern University Research News (April 2020)
"Hanson Bridgett Adds Attorneys," Los Angeles Business Journal (February 2020)
"Claire Collins Leads Five-Attorney Team from Lewis Brisbois to Hanson Bridgett," Daily Journal (February 2020)
"On the Move: Tracking the Ins and Outs of California Lawyers," The Recorder (January 2020)
Best Lawyers (2018–2025)
Los Angeles Business Journal, Women Of Influence (2022)
Los Angeles Business Journal, Women to Watch, Finalist (2021)
2013 Outstanding Young Lawyer, Real Property Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association
"Top Ten Recommendations for Virtual Brown Act Meetings," co-author, Government Law Alert (July 2020)
"Court of Appeal Clarifies Rules for Retaining Emails That are Included in CEQA Records," co-author, Government Law Alert (August 2020)
"PFAS – A Primer for Real Estate Lawyers on a New Environmental Risk," co-author, American College of Real Estate Lawyers News and Notes (April 2020)
"The Looming Crisis in Rate Setting," ACWA 2024 Spring Conference and Expo (May 2024)
"Tug of War: Affordability, Conservation, and Prop. 218," moderator, ACWA Fall Conference and Expo (November 2023)
"What Not to Email: Brown Act and Public Records Act Issues," Sacramento County Bar Association (February 2023)
"Desalination: A Silver Bullet for Water Supply?," American Bar Association (January 2023)
"Defending Rate Challenges," moderator, ACWA Fall Conference (December 2022)
"Water System Consolidations: Better, Stronger, Faster?", moderator, ACWA Spring Conference (May 2022)
"Developments in Prop 218 and the Law of Water Rates," CA Special Districts Association’s Annual Conference (August 2021)
“Developments in Prop. 218 and the Law of Water Rates,” ACWA 2021 Spring Conference (May 2021)
“The Life of a Working Mom,” LACBA Real Property Section Webinar (September 2020)
"Virtual Meetings and Communications," co-speaker, The Urban Water Institute Webinar (June 2020)
“Virtual Brown Act Meetings During COVID-19,” co-speaker, California Association of Sanitation Agencies Webinar (May 2020)
"Virtual Water Agency Board Meetings During COVID-19," moderator, Association of California Water Agencies Webinar (April 2020)
"So Sue Me: Overview of Claims and Litigation Issues for Water Districts," Urban Water Institute 2020 Spring Conference (February 2020)
"The Future of Recycled Drinking Water in Los Angeles County," co-speaker, LA County Bar Association (January 2020)
"Prevailing Wage Law," Rural Counties Representatives of California, Environmental Services JPA (August 2019)
"What *Not* To Email," California Association of Sanitation Agencies (August 2019)
"Hollywood is Just the Tip of the Iceberg: Diversity and Discrimination as Ethical Concerns," USC Real Estate Law and Business Forum (2018)
"Transportation and Development in the L.A. Region," USC Real Estate Law and Business Forum (2016)
"Easements in California," The Seminar Group (2015)
"The California Public Records Act," Lorman Seminars (2012)
"Drafting and Interpreting Easements," Los Angeles County Bar Association (2012)
"CEQA Basics Workshop," California Association of Environmental Professionals (2011)