Ruben Duran represents exclusively public agencies as a partner in the Municipal Law and Government Policy & Public Integrity practice groups of Best Best & Krieger LLP. He brings a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to the practice of public law. With an emphasis on open government and transparency and complex conflicts of interest issues, as well as elections law, land use and planning and cannabis issues, Ruben also provides special counsel to many of the firm’s clients. These include cities, school districts, public health plans and special districts.
He serves as general counsel for the Oxnard Harbor District, which owns and operates the commercial Port of Hueneme in Ventura County. As Planning Commission counsel to the City of Ontario, Ruben advises staff and the Planning Commission on a wide range of planning and land use issues. Over the course of his 20-year career, he has advised many other planning commissions on matters including general plan amendments, specific plan adoptions and implementation, the Subdivision Map Act, the environmental review process and development agreements. He is also general counsel to the Hub Cities Consortium, a joint powers agency that provides workforce development services to the cities of Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Maywood and South Gate. He is also general counsel to the Fenner Valley Water Authority, the Stallion Springs Community Services District, the Altadena Library District and the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. As general counsel of these public entities, Ruben is responsible for all legal services, including advising the elected boards and staff at public meetings and day-to-day transactional and advisory services on issues such as public bidding and contracting, environmental laws and regulations, land use and planning, labor and employment matters, as well as oversight and management of litigation.
He has experience with public-private partnerships and is instrumental in assisting his public agency clients partner with large financial institutions and nonprofit organizations to finance and construct public projects. These include the use of New Markets Tax Credits for the development of shore-side power infrastructure and an intermodal transportation facility for the Oxnard Harbor District, where he serves as general counsel (completed 2015), and a state-of-the art health and wellness facility in the City of Desert Hot Springs, where he was city attorney (completed 2013). As a general counsel, he regularly guides clients through the planning, public procurement and construction processes.
Ruben previously served as city attorney of Adelanto (2017-2018) and Desert Hot Springs (2006-2012) and general counsel of the Fontana Unified School District (2011-2012).
While attending the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, Ruben was a two-time national moot court champion in the Hispanic National Bar Association’s moot court competition. Prior to attending law school, Ruben served a year as a Public Affairs Fellow in the prestigious Coro Fellowship Program.
A frequent speaker and presenter on ethics and open government, Ruben enjoys meeting and interacting with public officials and employees from throughout the State, sharing a common goal of efficient, effective and ethical public service. He was appointed to the State Bar of California Board of Trustees in 2018 by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. He is past president of the City Attorneys Association of Los Angeles County and a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Ruben serves as a volunteer trainer for the Institute for Local Government, providing AB 1234 and ethics training for cities throughout California, and has presented on the New Markets Tax Credits program at the American Association of Port Authorities and the Association of Pacific Ports. He was appointed in 2018 by the State Bar of California's Board of Trustees to the Malpractice Insurance Working Group, which is charged with conducting a review and study regarding errors and omissions insurance for attorneys licensed in California. He chairs the Subcommittee on Encouraging Insurance Coverage.
Ruben is married with two adult sons. He enjoys reading, playing horseshoes and cooking. Ruben is admitted to practice law in California, the U.S. District Court for the Central and Northern districts of California and the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Education
- University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D.
- University of California, San Diego, B.S., political science