(213) 542-5706
jhomaechevarria@chwlaw.us
Julia is Senior Counsel with Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley and resident in our Pasadena office. She is part of both the firm’s municipal advisory practice group as well as the firm’s litigation practice group representing public agency clients from around the state.
She currently serves as City Attorney for the City of Yreka and Deputy City Attorney and Planning Commission Counsel for the City of Sierra Madre. She supports the firm’s other general and special counsel clients, advising cities and other public agencies on matters including CEQA, land use and planning, State housing law, public contracting, the Brown Act, conflicts of interest laws, and California Public Records Act compliance.
As part of the firm’s litigation practice group, Julia litigates a range of issues including CEQA, eminent domain and inverse condemnation, constitutional issues, municipal and public agency liability.
Prior to joining CHW, Julia served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Judge Josie Garton of the Superior Court of Alaska. She also externed for the State Water Resources Control Board, Office of Chief Counsel; served as a law clerk for Advocates for the West; and worked as a teaching assistant for UC Davis’s Department of Environmental Science & Policy.
Julia earned her J.D. from the University of California, Davis, School of Law with a Certificate in Environmental Law. She graduated magna cum laude from Colorado State University, with a B.S. in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability.
Recognitions/Publications/Presentations:
- Presentation: 2025-2026 Legislative Session Housing Updates, City Attorney’s Association of Los Angeles County (February 19, 2026)
- Publication: Public Trust and Water Rights: A Western States Update, Ecology Law Quarterly (Volume 51, 2025) (with Karrigan Bork & Anna Gard)
- Publication: The Evolution and Future of the Public Trust Doctrine in the West, Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (FNREL) (Volume 69, 2023) (with Karrigan Bork & Anna Gard)