213-542-5736
JCohene@chwlaw.us
Julia is an associate with Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley’s municipal advisory and litigation practice groups, and resident in our Pasadena office. She litigates a range of disputes for our municipal clients, and provides a wide range of support through our advisory team. Recent projects include analysis of new state housing laws, Public Works bidding and contracting issues and Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act compliance, and a variety of special municipal law projects analyses.
Before joining the firm, Julia served as a judicial law clerk and then research attorney to the Honorable Judge Gregory Alarcon and the Honorable Judge Wendy Chang in a Civil Unlimited Department of the Los Angeles Superior Court. In this role, Julia performed legal research and analysis and drafted tentative law and motion decisions for civil matters on a broad variety of topics, including commercial business disputes, labor and employment matters, civil torts, and real property issues.
Julia obtained her J.D. from U.C. Irvine School of Law. While in law school, she received the Faculty Award in Evidence; Dean’s Award in Art Law; and two achievement awards for Pro Bono service. She was a Staff Editor and then Associate Editor for the U.C. Irvine Law Review. She also participated in the school’s Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology Clinic and its Immigrant Rights Clinic. During summers, she interned with the Anti-Violence Project at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s legal services department, and with the Medical-Legal Partnership at Bet Tzedek Legal Services.
Julia received her Bachelor’s degree cum laude from Skidmore College. Prior to her legal career, she provided archival and media management for artists, galleries, and design groups in Los Angeles, Berlin, and New York.