Walnut Creek, Calif. (Feb. 14, 2024) Miller Starr Regalia (MSR), a preeminent California real estate and land use law firm, celebrated the 60th anniversary of the firm’s founding at its annual gala February 9th at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley. To mark the milestone, the firm unveiled a campaign to celebrate its rich history impacting real estate and land use laws in California with a timeline of key moments in its history and a new logo and tagline: Vision. Strategy. Results. 60 Years and Counting.
MSR attorneys and guests reflected on the firm’s many milestones and future at the special gala. MSR will view a moving video featuring interviews with MSR attorneys, staff and members, discussing the firm’s history and the tangible impact it has had on California’s legal and business communities beginning Friday.
“We remain steadfast in upholding our founders’ vision for the firm and are committed to continuing their mission. I am thankful for the dedication and service of our many talented lawyers and staff who support our important work. Moreover, we would not be able to celebrate 60 years of success without the support and loyalty of our valued clients.” said Ella Gower, MSR’s managing shareholder.
“Miller Starr Regalia is a special law firm that, in addition to establishing an unparalleled legacy of excellence in California real property law for 60 years, has also maintained an extremely positive and collegial work environment. I’ve been blessed to work not only with great lawyers, but also wonderful people for 27 years,” said Anthony Leones, MSR’s managing shareholder from 2012 to 2018.
"I am proud to have been a member of Miller Starr Regalia for over 40 years. Throughout its existence the Firm has provided its clients with extraordinary legal services while maintaining an appropriate work/life balance for its attorneys and staff," said Gene Miller, MSR’s managing shareholder from 1964 to 2011.
Central to MSR’s celebratory campaign is the timeline that highlights some of the firm’s major milestones, charting its growth, major cases, and moments where the firm has set important precedent in California real estate and land use law. The timeline tracks events like the moving of MSR’s headquarters from Oakland to Walnut Creek in 1996, to opening additional offices in Newport Beach in 2012 and San Francisco in 2013, as well as the succession of its managing shareholders.
MSR was founded on February 14, 1964 by Harry D. Miller, Marvin B. Starr, and Edmund L. Regalia, contemporaries at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (formerly Boalt Hall School of Law), who combined to establish the firm after practicing law separately for several years. The firm gained early prominence through its representation of the brokerage community and real estate syndicators and promoters, as well as institutional real estate developers and financial institutions.
In 1965, MSR first published Miller & Starr, the most widely used real estate reference in California, often cited by judges and widely used by real estate lawyers and professionals statewide. “The Book,” as we call it, has been cited thousands of times in published decisions at all levels of California courts. In 2000 MSR brought the editing in-house, with Karl Geier becoming The Book’s editor-in-chief eight years later. Currently in its 4th edition, The Book now comprises 12 volumes and 45 chapters spanning the entire spectrum of California real estate law and it is written, researched, and updated by MSR attorneys. Carolyn Nelson Rowan returned to the firm this year to take over as editor-in-chief.
The firm also publishes two successful and popular blogs: CEQA Developments, founded by Arthur F. Coon in 2011 and Land Use Developments, started by Bryan W. Wenter in 2016. Created to highlight the firm’s expertise in the area of CEQA law, the CEQA blog publishes articles concerning recent developments in cutting edge fields such as air quality and climate change-related laws and the environmental impact review of projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Land Use blog provides practical information, judicial, legislative, and regulatory updates, tips, and guidelines on cutting edge issues to those in the land use industry, including property owners, developers, public agencies, and consultants.
The firm has argued numerous cases that have shaped the law in the state at the California Supreme Court, in the California appellate and trial courts, and the United States Supreme Court. The firm has handled land use entitlements and transactions throughout the state of California. In addition, the firm has argued numerous cases that have shaped the law in California.
Miller Starr Regalia
Miller Starr Regalia has a well-established reputation as a leading real estate law firm for more than sixty-years. For nearly all that time, our firm has written Miller & Starr, California Real Estate 4th, a 12-volume treatise on California real estate law. We call it “the Book.” The Book is the most-widely used and judicially-recognized real estate treatise in California and is cited by practicing attorneys and courts throughout the state. Our firm has experience in all real property matters, including full-service litigation and dispute resolution services, transactions, acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, common interest development, construction, management, title insurance, environmental law, and land use. For more information, visit www.msrlegal.com.
