Nicole's practice focuses on government and public agency law. She assists the firm's public agency clients with various legal issues such as public contracts and procurements and governance laws, including conflict of interest analyses. Nicole provides client training on government ethics laws, Brown Act, and Public Records Act compliance.
Nicole also assists clients in implementing recycled water and resource recovery and waste reductions projects, including complex design-build/operate agreements. Nicole also helps clients navigate unique project delivery challenges. Nicole drafts and advises clients on contracts in areas including public works, the purchase of goods and services, funding agreements, and real property.
Nicole is engaged in the rapidly developing legal and regulatory landscape of unmanned aircraft systems (drones) for commercial use and writes for the blog hoverlaw.com. Nicole assists public and private clients in navigating the legal landscape of drone use.
Publications
"Chapter 7: Public Contracting," reviewer, Municipal Law Handbook (2016)
"California Legislature Sends Six Drone Bills to the Governor’s Desk," co-author, HB Drone Law Blog (September 2016)
"The Wild West of Commercial Drones–Why 2015 Could Be a Pivotal Year in California," co-author, Public Law Journal (May 2015)
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Blog Posts
"New Year: New Rulemaking" Drone Law (January 2020)
"Why Didn't Amazon Deliver My New Shoes Using a Drone?" Drone Law (November 2019)
"249 Grams—the Magic Number?," Drone Law (November 2019)
"Update on the (Slowly) Developing Preemption Landscape," Drone Law (September 2019)
"Further Delay of the FAA’s Remote Identification Rulemaking," Drone Law (September 2019)
"Anti-Drone Technologies," Drone Law (September 2019)
"Hoverlaw Returns- Update from Marin County," Drone Law (September 2019)
"Update on California Drone Bills," co-author, HB Drone Law Blog (June 2016)
"Micro-Drone Report Released," co-author, HB Drone Law Blog (April 2016)
"California Legislative Update," HB Drone Law Blog (January 2016)
"Local Drone Regulations and Possible Federal Preemption," co-author, HB Drone Law Blog (December 2015)
"FAA Names Members of UAS Registration Task Force and Seeks Public Input on Proposed UAS Registration Framework," co-author, HB Drone Law Blog (October 2015)
"Legislative Update: California Drone Legislation," HB Drone Law Blog (April 2015)
"FAA Sued Over Failure To Propose Privacy Rules Related To Commercial Drone Use," HB Drone Law Blog (April 2015)
"Legislators Ask, Is California Law Ready For Drones?" HB Drone Law Blog (March 2015)
"New FAA Proposed Rule Does Not Slow California Lawmakers' Efforts To Regulate Drone Use," HB Drone Law Blog (February 2015)
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Presentations
"Cities and Drones: What City Leaders Need to Know about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles," National League of Cities City Summit (November 2016)
"Federal and State Law: Use and Regulation of Drones by Counties," Rural Counties Representatives of California Annual Meeting (September 2016)
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