California Republican Lawyers Association



	Mike Houston Michael R.W. Houston is an associate at Rutan & Tucker, LLP and received his juris doctorate from the Vanderbilt University School of Law, where he served as a member of the executive board for the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. He practices in the areas of public law, real estate development, land use, natural resources and election law. Mr. Houston presently serves as the Assistant City Attorney for the City of La Quinta, California. Mr. Houston represents municipal agencies, special districts and developers in connection with land use entitlements. Mr. Houston has experience navigating businesses and municipal agencies through the complex requirements of local zoning law, the Subdivision Map Act, the California Environmental Quality Act and the California Coastal Act and has advised municipalities, special districts and developers in connection with the complicated regulatory scheme of these laws. Mr. Houston also has experience in the transactional real estate field, having prepared and negotiated documentation for leasing, selling and developing real property, including projects with public financing components. Mr. Houston represents municipalities, developers and business entities in connection with California’s highly complex initiative and referendum processes and has drafted, defended and challenged initiatives and referendum petitions seeking to propose and rescind development project approvals. Additionally, Mr. Houston provides advice to candidates, consultants, business entities and PACs in connection with both federal and California laws relating to campaign contributions and expenditures. Mr. Houston serves as general counsel to several state legislative candidates and state PACs and is campaign law counsel to a Fortune 500 company. Mr. Houston is a member of the California Republican Party Central Committee and has been active in grass-roots Republican activities for over 12 years. He has volunteered for over 75 political campaigns and serves as an unpaid and informal advisor to a U.S. Senate Candidate, several state legislators, a U.S. Representative, several trustees of local school boards and community college districts and one county supervisor. Prior to practicing law, he was a special staff assistant to U.S. Representative Ed Royce in the 102nd Congress. Mr. Houston served as the California Chairman and National Vice Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom between 1995 and 1997. Currently, Mr. Houston is a state board member for the California Republican Lawyers’ Association. Publications/Seminars: Birthright Citizenship in the United Kingdom and the United States: A Comparative Analysis of the Common Law Basis for Granting Citizenship to Children Born of Illegal Immigrants, 33 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 693 (2000). Developing Property in California: Strategies for Success, Orange County Business Journal (March 11, 2003). The California Coastal Commission: Understanding the Law and Process,” October 1, 2003 at Rutan & Tucker LLP Statements of Economic Interest: Compliance For Public Officials,” February 25, 2004 at Rutan & Tucker, LLP Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code,” September 15, 2002 at Gray, Cary, Ware and Freidenrich, LLP.