William J. Priest

Associate

Los Angeles
300 South Grand Avenue
25th Floor

TEL: (213) 787-2544
FAX: (213) 617-7480
William.Priest@bbklaw.com

Mr. Priest is an Associate in the Municipal Law Practice Group of Best Best & Krieger LLP in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Mr. Priest currently serves as Assistant City Attorney for the Cities of Covina, Gardena and Bell where, among his responsibilities, he serves as Counsel to the Covina and Gardena Planning Commissions and Legal Advisor to the Covina Personnel Advisory Board.  In addition, he regularly advises the Redevelopment Agencies of Covina and Bell.

Mr. Priest’s areas of expertise include zoning and land use, public contracting, redevelopment, personnel administration, and public finance. He is currently advising the City of Gardena through the design and construction of the $38,000,000 Gardena Municipal Bus Lines Transit Administration and Operations Center, the City’s largest single public works project in decades.  He also recently received special recognition from the City of Covina for his guidance during the design and construction of the Covina Metrolink Parking Facility.  Mr. Priest regularly advises cities on local taxation and assessment issues, including Utility User’s Tax, Mello-Roos Districts and Proposition 218 procedures. In addition, he recently drafted comprehensive revisions to both the City of Gardena Zoning Code and the City of Covina Subdivision Code.

Mr. Priest returned to the firm in August, 2006, after spending several years with the Oliver, Sandifer, Murphy and Lee law firm in Los Angeles. He has previously served as Assistant City Attorney and Redevelopment Counsel for the Cities of Downey, Fontana, and Ontario as well as Assistant General Counsel to the March Joint Powers Authority.  In his earliest years of practice, Mr. Priest was a member of the Illinois Bar, serving as Assistant City Attorney for the Cities of Maroa and Forsyth, Illinois.

Mr. Priest regularly writes and lectures on legal issues facing California cities including, most recently, noticing requirements for public actions and public park regulation and liability.  He is an active member of the City Attorney’s Association of Los Angeles County (“CAALAC”).

Mr. Priest received his Juris Doctorate from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where he served as Lead Editor of the Journal of Legal Medicine.  He is a graduate cum laude of U.C.L.A. with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Psychology. Mr. Priest is a native of the San Fernando Valley.  He has been married to his wife, Mara, for six years, and has one daughter, Lauren. 

Bar & Court Admissions

• California, 1999
• Illinois, 1996

Education

• JD, Southern Illinois University of Carbondale
• BA, University of California at Los Angeles