Monica Hammer provides legal counsel to land use developers, public entities, and property owners in the Bay Area. Areas of expertise include the Housing Accountability Act, transit-oriented development, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), planning, zoning, and permitting. She is skilled at representation before local and regional governmental agencies; negotiating eminent domain and easement issues; drafting development and affordable housing agreements; and facilitating development involving the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO). She is also a published author in law regarding the built urban environment and noise. In addition, Ms. Hammer is a mediator certified by the internationally recognized Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, facilitating settlements for business and real estate disputes through an impartial process that encourages flexible thinking and productive negotiation to save parties time and money reaching a mutually satisfying settlement.
Monica Hammer earned her undergraduate degree with a prize in economics from Carleton College and her juris doctorate from the University of Washington School of Law, where she participated in the Environmental Law Clinic. She began her career in 2006 as an attorney in Chicago handling civil plaintiff and defense cases before working for the City of Chicago. She was subsequently awarded a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellowship with the Network for Public Health Law, which she used to help guide the new, Affordable Care Act’s implementation by the Oregon Health Authority Innovation Center and the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Upon returning to California, Ms. Hammer practiced municipal law and served as an administrative hearing officer for the City of Santa Cruz.
With Berliner Cohen, Ms. Hammer provides legal counsel to public entities, land use developers, and individual property owners throughout the Bay Area.
Beyond her work as a lawyer and mediator, Ms. Hammer is honored to serve as Planning Commissioner for the City of Santa Cruz. She is also a board member of the O’Neill Sea Odyssey, a locally treasured Non-Profit providing ocean education for children. She enjoys participating as an active member of the Santa Clara Environmental Bar Association and Santa Cruz Women’s Lawyer Association.
