Brian Byun is an attorney in Best Best & Krieger LLP’s San Diego office and is a member of the firm’s Business practice group. He regularly advises public agency and private business clients on various municipal government, regulatory and real property transactional issues, with a focus on land use, land acquisition and disposition, and affordable housing and economic development matters. He also advises governing bodies on laws related to conflicts of interest and open and closed session meetings.

Prior to joining the firm, Brian served for several years as a senior deputy city attorney for the City of Vernon, where he advised the City Council, city-created commissions and all city departments (including Public Works, Public Utilities, Fire, Police, Health & Environmental Control, Human Resources and City Administration) on various legal and strategic issues.

Land Use, Housing and Economic Development
Brian works closely with his public and private sector clients to help them achieve their goals related to the use, acquisition, disposition and/or development of real property. He serves as assistant city attorney for community and economic development for the City of Ontario, and as special real estate transactional counsel for various cities, including Azusa, Coachella, Cudahy, Downey, Fontana, Indian Wells, Lake Forest, Milpitas, Palm Springs, Pomona, San Bernardino, San Juan Capistrano, Stanton and West Hollywood, as well as for the Local Initiative Health Authority for Los Angeles County (d.b.a. L.A. Care Health Plan) and the Housing Authority for the City of Los Angeles (HACLA).
 
Bankruptcy & Insolvency
Prior to his career in municipal law, Brian served for nearly a decade as a corporate bankruptcy and restructuring attorney at well-known law firms Cooley, Baker & McKenzie and Jeffer Mangels. He represented various institutional and business clients in insolvency-related state and federal (including bankruptcy) court litigation, as well as in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, out-of-court liquidations and corporate restructurings.

Brian currently serves as a member of the American Bar Association's Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division Council. Brian is active and has held leadership positions in various local, state and national Asian Pacific American bar associations and, within the firm, co-chairs the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee’s Community Outreach Subcommittee.
 
He lives in San Diego with his wife, two children and Chiweenie named Phoebe.

Education

• The George Washington University Law School, J.D., with honors
• Columbia University, M.A., Modern Japanese Literature
• Yale University, B.A., English

Admissions

• California
• New York

Honors/Awards

• Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star, Bankruptcy, 2015

Memberships

• American Bar Association Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division Council
• San Diego Asian American Legal Education Fund, founding chair, 2021-present
• San Diego County Bar Association, Leadership Outreach Committee, 2021-2022
• League of California Cities, City Attorneys Department, Cannabis Regulation Committee, 2018-2020, and Ad Hoc League-wide Cannabis Advisory Committee, 2019
• Korean American Bar Association of San Diego
  • treasurer, 2019-2020
  • treasurer, 2012-2013
  • Board member, 2011-2012
  • co-president, 2010-2011
• California Asian Pacific American Bar Association
  • treasurer, 2020-2021
  • Board member, 2018-2019
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
  • Public Sector Network, co-chair, 2018-present
  • National Convention San Diego Host City Committee, co-chair, 2015-2016
  • Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors’/Debtors’ Rights Committee, co-chair, 2012-2014