530-672-7601
Martin Fine has been involved in public agencies for almost 40 years as an educator, counselor and administrator. For over 20 years he has been legal counsel for public agencies and held the position of chief legal officer for a variety of public agencies. Over his career Martin has represented counties, special districts and school and community college districts. Martin is also presently a county counsel, counsel for a charter school and general counsel to an agency that creates educational programs and training modules. Martin has a breath of experience in many areas of public agency law and has special expertise in supervising litigation, administrative law, employment law, labor law, government law, education law and dispute resolution.
Martin was responsible for establishing and managing large public agency legal services departments which included advising public agency boards and administrators on issues relating to auditing and tracking legal costs, litigation, labor relations, employment, land use, business and public finance, public bidding and contract issues. He has also represented public agencies in a variety of civil litigation and administrative proceedings. Martin’s experience in administrative law includes advising and representing agencies on matters before the Personnel Employment Relations Board, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (and EEOC), The California Commission on Professional Competence, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Merit System Personnel Commissions, the California State Personnel Board and labor and civil arbitrations.
In addition to his law degree Martin has a graduate degree in counseling education. As an educator Martin worked as a counselor in a treatment center for emotionally disturbed children, developed and administered a drop out recovery program for a county office of education, and has been an adjunct professor in Law and Ethics and Education Law for the University of San Francisco, and Sacramento State University.
A natural outcrop of this training and experience is the understanding that relationships play a significant role in legal and other types of public agency and legal disputes. As a consequence, Martin developed a keen interest in dispute resolution, has developed conflict resolution programs for public agencies and been a mediator for numerous complex public agency disputes. Martin has been a member of the faculty and served on the Advisory Board for the University of California at Davis Common Ground, Center for Collaborative Solutions and has operated a private mediation practice.
