Marnie Christine Cody

Partner

Marnie Cody is a successful, well-respected lawyer in outdoor advertising law, with over thirty five years of experience in the field. For her undergrad education, Marnie attended the University of Southern California, graduating with a degree in Psychology. She went on to receive her JD from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Her first foray into law was in 1988 as a student law clerk to the boutique law firm then known as Stall & Hamlin. Marnie has since practiced alongside longtime collaborator and fellow Hamlin | Cody partner, Richard Hamlin.

Marnie has long been an active volunteer. In keeping with her legal background, Marnie has served as a Judge pro tem for the Los Angeles Superior Court. She has also served many non-profits dedicated to public school education and athletics. She is the past president and vice president of both Friends of Overland and the Pali Quarterback Club. In addition, Marnie was vice president of the Palisades High School Booster Club and Board Secretary of the Pacific Palisades Lacrosse Association. Marnie also served as President of the USC Alpha Gamma Delta Parent Club and as the 2019 Parliamentarian of the Intersorority Parent Council of the University of Southern California. For nearly ten years, Marnie was a volunteer reader in the Magic of Reading program at Overland Avenue Elementary School (on hiatus since COVID) and a volunteer children’s catechist with Saint Paul the Apostle Catholic Community in West Los Angeles where in 2023/2024 she was also a member of the children’s RCIA Team.

Her practice centers on outdoor advertising, business, and real estate matters, as well as probate and estate administration for small and midsized estates. Super Lawyers® has selected Marnie as a Top-Rated Attorney in practice areas including estate planning, probate, and real estate, and has named her in its list of selected attorneys featured in Super Lawyers Magazine (2016-Present).

Marnie’s experience in the outdoor advertising field dates to 1990. She has handled cases opposite the California Department of Transportation and regularly consults with clients on matters involving the California Outdoor Advertising Act and California Code of Regulations. Marnie has spoken as co-presenter at the International Right of Way Association, Valuation Seminar and participated on webinar panels for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and Stafford CLE (Advanced Knowledge for Attorneys). She has represented outdoor advertising companies, real estate developers and landowners in a variety of cases, including municipal land use violations, eminent domain and inverse condemnation proceedings, local and state land use and construction entitlements, general real estate and personal property transactions, asset purchases, leases, grant of easement, partnership and LLC operating agreements, and a host of contractual disputes.

Marnie has handled all aspects of litigation, with experience trying cases in the California Superior Court and arguing before the California Second District Court of Appeal. She has likewise appeared in various local and state administrative appeals, mediations, and arbitrations. She is an effective negotiator and has hands-on experience with a variety of parties in the private sector as well as public agencies, such as AQMD, LAUSD, and former CRAs and many California cities and counties.

Some of her significant accomplishments include:

2. Negotiating and documenting Development Agreements with California Cities.

3. Securing a multi-million-dollar billboard relocation settlement for an outdoor advertising company in inverse condemnation proceeding.

4. Negotiating mitigation measures undertaken by Caltrans and SGE to eliminate detrimental impacts of a state construction project on A.M. radio towers and securing full compensation settlement for the property owner.

5. Securing full demand in Level II Appeal of compensation awarded by Los Angeles World Airports in acquiring multi-family residential property.

6. Co-formulating successful strategy with Richard Hamlin to avoid condemnation of a multi-million-dollar business and property.

7. Securing many favorable settlements in lawsuits involving quiet title to real property, breach of lease, and commercial contracts.

8. Helping families resolve real estate title issues after the death of a loved one.

9. A winning record of bench trials and attorney’s fee awards.

10. Drafting City of Lynwood Sign Ordinance (2006).

11. Drafting amendments to the California Outdoor Advertising Act, Business and Professions Code, §5443 (2003).