BB&K Boosts Eminent Domain Practice with Three New Attorneys

Best Best & Krieger LLP recently hired three attorneys to join the eminent domain practice in offices across Southern California.

The eminent domain practice group focuses on helping cities, counties, special districts and school districts acquire property so they can build roads, water supply pipelines and other needed infrastructure.

“We are thrilled to be welcoming three new attorneys who bring a wealth of diverse experience into our practice,” said Mark Easter, who heads the practice from the Riverside office.

The new attorneys are:

-Artin N. Shaverdian, who is based in the Los Angeles office. An of counsel attorney at BB&K, Shaverdian comes to the firm with nearly a decade of experience in eminent domain law. He has represented key public agencies in Southern California, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, various cities, redevelopment agencies and special districts in eminent domain/inverse condemnation cases.

Primarily a litigator, he represents public agencies, individuals and business owners. Shaverdian has been lead counsel on the acquisition of hundreds of parcels of real property for various projects, including mixed-use commercial and residential redevelopment projects, schools, grade separation and other public infrastructure projects. He has also represented multiple property and business owners in eminent domain and inverse condemnation matters across the California, recovering millions of dollars on their behalf.

Prior to joining BB&K, Shaverdian was a partner at a boutique eminent domain practice in Glendale, Calif. He received his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles in 2002.

-Gregory G Snarr, who is an associate in the Riverside office. He represents public agencies and private-sector clients in pre-litigation, real-property acquisitions as well as all stages of complex, commercial litigation in state and federal courts.

Primarily a litigator, Snarr’s eminent domain experience includes acquisitions of rights of way for major public improvement projects as well as valuation issues, water adjudications, and land use and zoning restrictions. Fluent in Spanish, Snarr received his law degree from Brigham Young University in Utah in 2009.

-Holly E. Cheong, an associate who joined the San Diego office and represents public agencies in eminent domain matters. Prior to joining BB&K, Cheong worked for Snell & Wilmer LLP in Las Vegas as a litigator handing commercial, civil and employment cases.

Cheong received her law degree from the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2010. After law school, she served as a law clerk to Justice Kristina Pickering of the Nevada Supreme Court. Before turning to a legal career, Cheong received a master’s degree in city planning from San Diego State University in 2003, and worked as an environmental planner for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and as a biologist for the City of San Diego Planning Department.

Cheong volunteers as the social media administrator with the San Diego affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. She began volunteering for the network after a friend died from the disease and she discovered that the survival rates with people suffering from pancreatic cancer are extremely low.