Mara Rosales - Representative Matters

Mara Rosales is the founder of Rosales Law Partners LLP and Rosales Business Partners LLC. She has extensive experience in airport and government law and public policy. She served as chair of the Airports & Transportation Group at Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP and was the head of the Airport Practice group at the law firm of Meyers Nave in San Francisco. Prior to entering private practice in 2004, Mara served as San Francisco International Airport’s general counsel for over ten years (1992 – 2003) and was SFO’s Deputy Director for Regulatory & Legislative Affairs (2003).

As chief in-house counsel for SFO, a $590 million enterprise, Mara handled legal issues relating to the $3 billion ten-year airport terminal facilities expansion project as well as airport operations. The legal matters included advice related to retail opportunities within the new International Terminal, access to SFO by means of public transit systems, including ground transportation providers, commercial leases, airport procedures within a high security facility, and intergovernmental transportations matters with SFO’s neighboring public entities in San Mateo County. During her tenure at SFO, Mara acquired direct experience with over 300 public agency construction related projects, including the International Terminal General Building Contract, BART to SFO Construction Project and the AirTrain/Light Rail System Contract. Notably, Mara negotiated a project labor agreement with the San Mateo Building and Construction Trades Council for the airport’s multi-billion dollar project and successfully defended that agreement before the California courts. (Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc. v. San Francisco Airports Commission (1999) 21 Cal.4th 352.)

Before joining SFO, Mara served for nine years as a San Francisco deputy city attorney in the Government Law Division. There, she developed special expertise in First and Fourteenth Amendment issues, municipal law and public contracting. Mara has a distinguished 30-year career in the specialized area of affirmative action in public contracting. In her capacities of general counsel and deputy city attorney, Mara authored and defended several minority/local business contracting programs. (See e.g., Domar Electric, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (1994) 9 Cal.4th 161; Associated General Contractors of California v. Coalition for Economic Equity (9th Cir. 1991) 950 F.2d 1401.) Mara has represented several airports, including Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Los Angeles International and San Jose International on federal disadvantaged business program issues. She was lead outside counsel representing the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in the Associated General Contractors, San Diego Chapter v. Caltrans matter, an action challenging the constitutionality of California’s 49 CFR Part 26 DBE Highway Program.

During her career, Mara has handled more than 150 civil litigation matters in California state and federal courts, including more than 30 appellate matters, obtaining over 18 published decisions. Separately from her work for airports, Mara’s diverse practice includes the representation of cities, public agencies, airport concessionaires, construction related companies, and major private sector institutional clients.