Jeffrey W. Frey

Jeff Frey is experienced in a wide variety of public sector issues including public facilities, public construction, public bidding and contracting, school/developer fees, conflicts of interest, the Brown Act, Public Records Act requests, the Government Claims Act, charter school matters, bankruptcy issues, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

A member of the firm’s civil litigation team, Mr. Frey has successfully advocated for and defended school districts, water districts, community college districts, and other public agencies. Mr. Frey was part of a litigation team whose success for a school district resulted in a published opinion by the California Court of Appeal: 1901 First Street Owner, LLC v. Tustin Unified School Dist. (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 1186. 

Mr. Frey has presented on numerous topics of interest for public agencies before groups including the California Special Districts Association (CSDA), the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), and County Offices of Education. Mr. Frey is also a Fellow with the Construction Lawyers Society of America (CLSA), an invitation-only, selective, and limited-membership international association of the world’s best construction lawyers.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Frey worked as a civil litigation attorney, handled investigatory and administrative matters for school districts, and served as general counsel to school districts.

Honors & Recognitions

Mr. Frey was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in both 2014 and 2015. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.

• Defeated a subcontractor on behalf of a water district in lawsuit alleging breach of contract.
• Successfully lobbied a city to correct the way city calculated square footage for purposes of school district developer fees.
• Successfully defended school district’s free speech/right to petition whether city was complying with laws against developer’s allegations of interference with contractual and economic rights.
• Successfully defended school district against allegations that school district did not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.
• Successfully defended water district against allegations that water district improperly required property owner to construct a fire hydrant for public safety.

Practice Areas

Community & Professional

• Orange County Bar Association, Member
• Fellow, Construction Lawyers Society of America