Lozano Smith Announces Four New Equity Partners
Fresno, CA (July 12, 2023) – Lozano Smith, LLP, a leading California education and public agency law firm, is pleased to announce that Michelle Cannon, Scott Cross, Sarah Garcia, and Roman Muñoz have been promoted to Lozano Smith’s equity partnership.
“These are exceptional attorneys, leaders, and colleagues who embody Lozano Smith’s culture and have a tireless commitment to our clients throughout California,” said Karen Rezendes, Managing Partner of Lozano Smith. “Each one has contributed significantly to the growth of the firm and our attorneys. Their diverse backgrounds and passion for public agency law will continue to elevate our services, and ultimately, the communities and public agencies we have the privilege of serving.”
Meet the New Equity Partners:
Michelle Cannon
Michelle joined Lozano Smith’s Sacramento office in 2015. Over her career, she has built expertise across several practice areas, including governance, labor and employment, Title IX, investigations, student, charter schools and litigation. Serving as co-chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group since 2019, Michelle has skillfully guided our robust team to help ensure practical guidance is provided to clients at every turn. She is also known for her cutting-edge presentations at conferences for the California School Boards Association (CSBA) and Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).
Scott Cross
Practicing out of the firm's Fresno office since 2001, Scott has focused his career on municipal law and built his general counsel and governance expertise to include risk management, land use, real property acquisitions, eminent domain, and civil litigation. He has served as City Attorney for numerous Central Valley cities, and he currently serves as the City Attorney for the Cities of Clovis and Fowler. He has been the Office Managing Partner in Fresno since 2015, and continues to be instrumental in the continuous success of the firm's Municipal Practice Group.
Sarah Garcia
Sarah began her career at Lozano Smith as part of the Walnut Creek team in 2012. She has represented countless school districts in due process hearings, expulsion proceedings, special education mediations, and on-site Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigations. She has been instrumental in expanding the firm’s Special Education Practice Group, where she formerly served as co-chair, and also previously served as co-chair of the Student Practice Group. In 2020, Sarah helped open Lozano Smith’s San Luis Obispo office, and she currently serves as the Office Managing Partner.
Roman Muñoz
With two decades of experience representing public school districts, Roman joined Lozano Smith’s Sacramento office in 2020. Roman regularly advises clients on a variety of legal matters, including labor relations, employee discipline and dismissal, employment litigation, contract administration, employee benefits, reductions in force, grievance arbitration, unfair labor practice proceedings, and board policies. He is also a highly sought-after speaker and has presented at many leading statewide association conferences, including the California School Boards Association (CSBA) and Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).
Get to Know Lozano Smith
Lozano Smith is a full-service education and public agency law firm serving hundreds of California's K-12 school districts, community college districts, and numerous cities, counties, and special districts. The firm's expertise includes, but is not limited to, personnel matters, labor relations, technology, real property and construction matters, constitutional issues, special education, student discipline, public safety, school funding, charter schools, bond elections, governance, and litigation in all areas of representation. Lozano Smith has offices in eight California locations: Sacramento, Walnut Creek, Fresno, Monterey, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, and San Diego. For more information about Lozano Smith or to see full attorney bios, visit www.LozanoSmith.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. You can also download the Lozano Smith mobile app and listen to our podcast to stay updated with the latest legal updates.