(626) 219-0481
TAlves@chwlaw.us
Thais is an associate with Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley’s municipal advisory practice group and resident in our Orange County office. She provides a wide range of support for our municipal clients in such topics as employment and labor, open meetings and records, conflicts of interest, and land use. She is Assistant City Attorney of Sierra Madre, and Deputy City Attorney of Barstow, Calabasas, and Ojai. Adept at public meeting management, she regularly attends public agency board meetings, including serving as Planning Commission Counsel for the City of Sierra Madre and previously serving as Assistant General Counsel for Eco-Rapid Transit.
Thais advises clients on a daily basis regarding contract drafting, interpretation, and amendment, the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, and conflicts of interest laws.
Thais is also part of CHW’s employment law practice and provides significant labor and employment support for her clients, including advice regarding employee discipline matters, public employee retirement systems, personnel policies drafting and interpretation, union agreements drafting and interpretation, and compliance advice regarding the myriad of federal and state employment and labor laws. Thais is experienced in the public employee disciplinary appeal process, and has successfully defended her clients’ discipline decisions in disciplinary appeal hearings. She also maintains and delivers an extensive library of training presentations for public agencies, including AB 1825 sexual harassment prevention training, best practices on employee evaluations, employee leave rights and disability accommodations, civil service rules, and employee discipline. Thais’ focus is not only on helping her clients avoid legal liability, but also in creating a work environment where both management and non-supervisory staff feel supported, respected, and empowered to serve the public to the best of their ability.
Before joining the Firm, Thais was a fellow and then a staff attorney at California Women’s Law Center. There, she engaged in impact litigation and policy advocacy on behalf of women.
Thais obtained her JD from UCLA Law and graduated summa cum laude from University of California, Irvine, with a BA in History.
In law school, Thais interned at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and at the Public Law Center. She also externed at the California Office of the Attorney General and the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center at UCLA, gaining exposure to a variety of public law topics.
Practice Areas:
- Municipal Advisory
- Employment Law
- Brown Act
- Public Records Act
- Land Use Regulations
- Conflicts of Interest, Political Reform Act, Government Code § 1090, Common Law
- California Environmental Quality Act