Dale Goldsmith

Partner

Dale J. Goldsmith specializes in land use, real estate, and administrative matters.  Dale was born and raised in Los Angeles.  He received his B.A. cum laude with departmental honors in economics and political science in 1982 from Yale University and his J.D. in 1985 from the University of Chicago. 

Dale has assisted clients in obtaining necessary approvals for a wide range of residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional development projects all over California.  He has been and continues to be involved in a number of high profile development projects, including the Universal Studios Master Plan, the Hollywood & Vine mixed use, transit-oriented development that includes a W Hotel, BRE's Wilshire La Brea mixed use project, AEG's Home Depot Center at Cal State Long Beach, Thomas Properties' 2,000,000 square-foot Campus El Segundo office project, the expansion of Fox Studios in Century City, the renovation of Dodger Stadium, United Airlines' Terminal 6, 7, and 8 projects at LAX, the development of Rand Corporation's headquarters in Santa Monica, Waste Management's state-of-the- art waste transfer station at Bradley Landfill, and Macerich's redevelopment of Santa Monica Place.

Dale has developed particular expertise in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and is a widely recognized as one of the state's leading CEQA practitioners.  He has helped protect hundreds of environmental impact reports and other CEQA documents against administrative and legal challenge. 

Dale served as special counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's Development Reform Committee, which formulated measures that streamlined the City's development process.  He also served on the legal committee of Progress L.A., a private entity which has helped the Mayor implement the Development Reform Committee's recommendations.  On a number of occasions, Dale has formally and informally provided advice to the City of Los Angeles on land use and planning procedures and policies, including policies regarding development agreements and EIR processing.  He has also appeared before several committees of the California Legislature to provide expert testimony on various matters and has served as an expert witness in lawsuits involving land use issues.  Dale also regularly publishes articles and gives lectures on land use and planning issues.

Dale is actively involved in community affairs and was appointed by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski to serve as legal advisor to the Brentwood Community Council.  Dale also provided pro bono legal assistance to South Central residents in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots and received an Outstanding Community Leadership Award for his work.  He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Westside Urban Forum.