Grant T. Burton

 Grant is Of Counsel to the firm.   He joined the General Counsel's Office at The Metropolitan Water  District of Southern California in 1992 and went on to become a Senior  Deputy General Counsel at Metropolitan and remained there until he  retired from government service in 2013.
 

Grant's early years at  Metropolitan were spent as the General Counsel's primary in-house  litigator. Grant litigated construction, personal injury, contract,  Native American water rights, inverse condemnation, eminent domain and  other types of cases. He was first chair in a number of trials, argued  before the California Court of Appeal, and represented Metropolitan  before the United States Supreme Court.
 

During this time, Grant  also drafted General Counsel Opinions on a variety of topics including  the Brown Act, ethics, the State Water Project, CEQA and NEPA. He was  heavily involved in the permitting and construction of Diamond Valley  Lake including, for the first time in California history, reaching a  reinterment agreement with three tribes that were designated Most Likely  Descendants under state law that included deeding property to the  tribes for reinterment purposes.
 

Later in his career at  Metropolitan, in addition to the above areas of practice, Grant focused  on labor and employment matters. Grant represented Metropolitan in more  than a dozen administrative hearings and was part of Metropolitan's team  for the negotiation of 4 labor contracts. He also gave day-to-day  advice to Human Resources and Management staff on labor and employment  matters.
 

Before being admitted to practice law in 1991, Grant  worked full-time as the City of Santa Monica's Claims Administrator  while attending law school. Under the direction of the City Attorney,  Grant adjusted all claims presented to the City and represented the City  in more than 100 small claims cases.
 

Since leaving Metropolitan  in 2013, Grant became Of Counsel at Wendelstein Law Group, and is currently the head of Human Resources for Calleguas Municipal Water District. The firm has also been panel counsel  for Association of California Water Agencies Joint Powers Insurance  Agency for decades and, in this capacity, has represented many dozens of  California water agencies. Grant was the primary attorney for Calleguas  in the recent case of Calleguas Municipal Water District v. Thomas Selleck, et al..
 

Grant  is a former member of the Association of California Water Agencies  Legal Affairs Committee where, for a time, he acted as the Chair of the  Ethics Subcommittee. He is a former Arbitrator for the California State  Mediation and Conciliation Service and he is a member, and past Chair,  of the Ventura Water Commission. In 2001 - 2003 Grant volunteered his  time to act as a Hearing Officer for Los Angeles Police Department on  Board of Rights hearings.  Grant is also conflict counsel for the  Ventura County Civil Service Commission.
 

Grant is particularly  proud of being a veteran of the United States Coast Guard where he  served in Alameda, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, Owensboro,  Kentucky, Hilo, Hawaii, and San Pedro, California.
 

Grant  currently lives in Ventura, California has two grown children, one  an optometrist and one a senior at California State University  Northridge.
 

Growing up in Venice, California Grant attended  Loyola High School. He holds a BA in English Literature from Loyola  Marymount University and a JD from the University of West Los Angeles  School of Law.
 

A lifetime surfer, Grant is a member of the Surfing Lawyers Association.