Megan Garibaldi advises public agencies and private entities on local government law, with an emphasis on land use and entitlement, planning, zoning, affordable housing and state environmental laws. Megan also focuses on real estate and economic development work. Megan serves as the city attorney for the City of Hawaiian Gardens, interim general counsel for the Laguna Beach County Water District and special counsel on litigation matters for a number of Southern California agencies. A partner in the Municipal Law practice group of Best Best & Krieger LLP, Megan regularly counsels clients on land use decisions and project development. When her clients face legal challenges to their decisions or projects, she successfully and zealously advocates for them in court. Megan’s goal is to find practical solutions while providing her clients the best possible results.

Prior to joining BB&K, Megan was a partner at Rutan & Tucker, LLP, in both the Governmental Law and Real Estate groups. During that time, Megan served as assistant and deputy city attorney to several Orange County cities, where she advised on matters ranging from the Public Records Act and Brown Act to Proposition 218 and the Landscaping and Lighting Act to the Planning and Zoning Laws, Subdivision Map Act and Mitigation Fee Act. Throughout her career, Megan has reviewed, drafted and negotiated numerous entitlement-related documents, disposition and development agreements, other complex real estate instruments and CEQA-related documents. She has also successfully defended several real estate- and land use-related litigation matters, as well as complicated municipal finance challenges.
 
While in law school, Megan served as senior editor of the Southern California Law Review. Megan is an Orange County native, where she still lives today with her husband and two young daughters. She is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
 
Megan is based in the firm’s Irvine office.
 
Education

• University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, J.D.
• University of California, Santa Barbara, B.A., law and society, B.A., religious studies, cum laude

Admissions

• California

Memberships

• Orange County Bar Association
• Thomas House Family Shelter, Board of Directors

Honors/Awards

• Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars, Legislative and Government Affairs, 2013-2022