EDUCATION
University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly Hastings)
J.D., Class of 1992
Bowdoin College
A.B., cum laude, Class of 1988
ADMISSIONS
California State Bar, 1992
Elizabeth M. Calciano
Elizabeth M. Calciano has represented public agencies for over twenty years. She currently serves as Assistant City Attorney for the City of Chino Hills and Delano and Deputy City Attorney for the City of El Segundo. She also currently serves as special counsel to the Desert Community College District and the City of Rancho Mirage. She has extensive experience in representing public agencies in all aspects of transactional and litigation matters.
Ms. Calciano has also served as Assistant City Attorney for the cities of Glendora, Lomita, Monterey Park and Rolling Hills, as Assistant General Counsel to the Westside Cities Council of Governments and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, and as special counsel for a number of public agency clients, including the City of Long Beach, Pasadena City College, Mt. San Antonio Community College and Glendale City College. She is proficient in a wide range of municipal law issues, including land use, environmental, open meeting, public records and conflict of interest laws. Ms. Calciano also has extensive litigation experience, with over one hundred bench trials and 500 mediations and one (successful) criminal jury trial.
Municipal and Other Public Sector Experience
Ms. Calciano began her career in municipal law in 1992 working for six years at Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP serving as Assistant City Attorney for the Cities of Chino Hills and Lomita, Assistant General Counsel for the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and Acting Assistant City Attorney for the City of Glendora. In 1998, Ms. Calciano began what became a long sabbatical representing abused and neglected children at all stages of juvenile dependency proceedings. She joined the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles where she developed her trial practice, including more than one hundred trials and over five hundred formal mediations. She served as a Legislative Deputy for Children and Education for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina in 2006, during which time she advised Supervisor Molina on legislative issues impacting children and worked with County department heads to improve the condition of children throughout the County of Los Angeles. Ms. Calciano returned to the field of municipal law in 2007 at Jenkins & Hogin, LLP and assisted Mr. Hensley in forming Hensley Law Group in 2014.
Professional Affiliations/Publications
Ms. Calciano served as President of the City Attorneys' Association of Los Angeles County (CAALAC) in 2016, on the CAALAC Executive Committee from 2013-2017 and is a current member. She also recently served on the League of California Cities, City Attorney’s Department California Public Records Act Committee that in 2022 published the updated The People's Business: A Guide to the California Public Records Act. She also served on the League of California Cities, City Attorney’s Department Editorial Review Committee that in 2016 published the updated Guide for Local Agency Counsel: Providing Conflict of Interest Advice. She served on the League of California Cities, City Attorney’s Department FPPC Committee from 2012-2014. Ms. Calciano was recognized as a 2014 Top Attorney in Pasadena Magazine.
Ms. Calciano was President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) Barristers in 2002, which is the young lawyers’ section of LACBA and at that time served approximately 7,000 lawyers. She also served on LACBA’s Executive Committee in 2002, as well as on LACBA Barristers’ Executive Committee and various Committees for a number of years in the 1990s. Ms. Calciano currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.
Ms. Calciano’s presentations and publications include:
"Responding to Subpoenas and Public Records Act Requests" - California Law Enforcement Association of Records Supervisors (CLEARS) - Southern Chapter - December 3, 2014 (co-presented with her colleague David H. King)
“What’s New at the FPPC” - Tri-Counties Local Government Attorneys Association – February 27, 2014 and the City Attorneys Association of Los Angeles County – January 23, 2014
“The Public Records Act for Law Enforcement: The Nitty Gritty” - CLEARS Conference – Region III - May 10, 2012 and CCUG Southern Chapter Meeting/Training – June 12, 2012
“How to Prosecute a Code Enforcement Case – Ethics, Warrants and Administrative Citations (Part II)” - City Attorney’s Department, League of California Cities – May 6, 2010
“Code Enforcement Update” - Annual Conference of California Association of Code Enforcement Officers – 2008
“The Ins and Outs of Conflicts And Public Notice” (Panel) - American Planning Association, California Chapter, Annual Conference – 2008