Richard Hamlin

Email: RHamlin@HamlinLaw.com

Richard F. Hamlin received his B.A. from UCLA in 1966 and his J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 1970. He received a Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University in 1972. Since then he has taken classes in mediation, advanced mediation and negotiation from Harvard Law School’s Negotiation Project and from the Straus Institute at Pepperdine.

A member of California State Bar since January 1971, he is admitted to the bars of the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth circuit, the U.S. District Courts for Central, Southern and Northern Districts of California, the U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of Claims.

Hamlin’s practice focuses on prosecuting and defending real estate and commercial lawsuits, advising clients on business transactions, and outdoor and out-of-home advertising (billboards). He is an accomplished mediator who uses those skills to achieve outstanding results for his clients.

Hamlin has been asked to speak about eminent domain cases at conferences of both the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and the International Right of Way Association. For the National Business Institute, Hamlin spoke on Negotiating and Drafting Trouble Free Commercial Leases.

Hamlin is a community leader. He is a past president of the Marina del Rey Bar Association (since merged into the Culver-Marina Bar Association), the Marina del Rey Area Chamber of Commerce and the Marina del Rey Performing Arts Guild. He rows and kayaks, including several open-water crossings to Catalina and the Channel Islands.

Some of Hamlin’s significant cases include:

• Developing a litigation strategy that allowed his client to settle a $250,000,000 secured debt for $95,000,000.

• Developing the legal theory that survived a court challenge and secured a multi-million dollar relocation settlement for an outdoor advertising company in an inverse condemnation case.

• Achieving a jury verdict of $1,414,000, plus all attorney and expert witness fees, in an eminent domain case in which the state’s final offer was $450,000.

• Persuading a city council to reverse the unanimous decision of its Planning Commission and to allow his client to re-develop his property.

• Persuading a school district to reverse its decision to take about forty percent of his client’s carefully-assembled city block by eminent domain.

• Restoring his client’s home to him after the bank conducted a foreclosure sale and Legal Aid had told the client he had no case (settled after defeating the bank’s motion for summary judgment).