Legislative Consultant
Sacramento
He brings extensive strategic, political and communication experience to the firm and our clients. His practice focuses on governmental policy and regulatory issues, primarily those relating to finance, tax, and corporate securities. Jim has extensive state and federal policy and regulatory experience. In addition, he is a principal proponent of municipal government finance issues. He has worked with local governments, investment banks, the state legislature, and the Congress to draw attention to policy and legal changes needed to advance the ability of California municipalities to access financial markets, create more usable bond and finance laws, and update laws governing what public entities may undertake for public purposes.
Jim has directed Orrick’s Governmental Affairs Practice Group since joining the firm in 1984. Before that, he served for 10 years as Executive Director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, where he gained recognition across the United States for raising concerns about Lake Tahoe to a national level.
A sixth generation Californian, Jim received his M.S. in Wildland Resource Science and his B.S. in Forestry and Conservation from the University of California, Berkeley, where he received the Outstanding Graduating Senior Award for 1970. As a Trustee of the University of California Berkeley Foundation, he is a principal advisor to the Chancellor, has been a member of the Executive Committee, is a leading proponent of government and private funding for the UC Berkeley campus, and is a founder of Friends of Cal.
Jim is an almond grower and with his family farms the Bruner Ranch at Crows Landing, California.