William C. Pate

Shareholder and founding member of the firm, partner William (“Bill”) Pate has continued his family history of service to the legal profession. Since 2000, Bill has represented public and private construction industry, real estate, and business clients. Bill has served as general counsel on billions of dollars’ worth of public work. His legal expertise covers the full spectrum from planning, proposals, bidding, and contract documents, to design and delivery options, construction, close-out, suretyship, claims and litigation.

In addition to development and capital improvements, Bill handles many other matters, including land use, environmental, suretyship and guarantors, dangerous conditions and injury claims, false claims and illegal use of public funds, public finance, eminent domain and inverse condemnation, public private partnerships, leaseholds, public records, privacy and sensitive security, surplus property and equipment, water and green energy, facilities and procurement, class action wholesale rate disputes, and prevailing wages and labor disputes.

Bill has tried more than ten cases before a jury, judge, arbitrators and administrative tribunals such as the OAH Public Works Contract Arbitration Program, the Department of Industrial Relations and the Division of Labor Standards. His appellate work includes a victorious precedent setting decision before the California Supreme Court, which restricted the use of so-called “revival statutes” against public entities. (Shirk v. Vista Unified School District (2007) 42 Cal.4th 201.)

Bill resides in Coronado with his wife, son and daughter. He enjoys the mountains and deserts of Southern California, and Baja, Mexico, and coaches’ youth baseball.