(213) 542-5707
SLevin@CLLAW.US

Experience:  Sandi is the City Attorney of La Habra Heights and General Counsel to the Orangeline Development Authority and the Los Angeles County Law Library.  Sandi previously served as City Attorney  for City of Sierra Madre and General Counsel to the Sierra Madre Community Redevelopment Agency (2006-2011). Sandi offers not only extensive expertise accumulated over her years of practice, but also the benefit of participating in municipal law from a variety of perspectives. As a city attorney, Sandi regularly advises councils and commissions on the Brown Act, conflict of interest and meeting management issues, as well as a variety of questions on the full range of municipal operations, including land use and development, public finance, employment, contracts, election law and tort liability. 

In addition, Sandi is an experienced litigator with a diverse practice in complex litigation. Her specialties include local government and regulatory matters, municipal finance, campaign and election law and land use and development. Sandi also has extensive experience litigating wrongful termination cases, civil rights, construction and land use matters and other significant business contractual disputes. Recent successes include several significant rulings in Proposition 218 cases, obtaining dismissals without trial of various land use challenges, the defense of police labor and pension matters, disputes over interpretation of collective bargaining MOUs, and various CEQA matters. She has also handled municipal tort liability, employment and employee discipline claims, contract disputes, land use, municipal finance issues and a variety of writ claims. Sandi's litigation experience covers a broad range of matters and includes extensive experience in both state and federal courts, as well as administrative hearings and administrative writ proceedings. Sandi has argued numerous appeals in both state and federal appellate courts. 

Sandi also served as Mayor, Councilmember and Planning Commission Chair for the City of Culver City from 1993 to 2000, and gained familiarity with public law issues from a practical as well as a legal perspective. As a representative of Culver City, Sandi also served as liaison to other governmental agencies, sat on many local government committees and boards, and spoke as a panelist at a variety of forums and seminars. 

Prior to forming Colantuono & Levin, Sandi practiced at Riordan & McKinzie for 13 years, where she was a principal in the litigation department.

Associations and Activities:  Sandi serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Legal Advocacy Committee of the League of California Cities.  She also served as an Editor and subsequently as Chair of the Editorial Board of the California Municipal Law Handbook published by CEB and the League of California Cities.

Education:  Sandi received her J.D. from the University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1987 and became a member of the California Bar that same year. While at Boalt, she was a member of the California Law Review, Senior Note and Comment Editor of the High Technology Law Journal and President of the Boalt Hall Women's Association. She served as an extern to the Honorable William Norris, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1987.

Practice Areas:
● Election Law
● Public Law
● Land Use and Planning
● Conflicts of Interest