What COLANTUONO, HIGHSMITH & WHATLEY, PC does

Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC is a California professional law corporation founded in 1989 by Michael G. Colantuono, specializing exclusively in municipal and public-law matters. The firm represents local public agencies — cities, counties, special districts, joint powers authorities, and community-choice aggregators — serving as City Attorney, Town Attorney, or General Counsel for more than fifteen California municipalities and as special counsel to over one hundred additional public entities. It operates from six offices across California (Grass Valley, Orange County, Pasadena, Sacramento, San Diego, and Sonoma), enabling in-person attendance at planning commissions and city councils statewide.

The firm's practice spans eighteen dedicated service areas including public revenues and rate-making (its flagship, built around expertise in Propositions 13, 62, 218, and 26), appellate representation (14 California Supreme Court arguments to date), complex litigation, constitutional issues, elections law, eminent domain and inverse condemnation, labor and employment, land use and CEQA, LAFCO matters, gaming regulation, marijuana taxation and regulation, post-redevelopment and affordable housing, public-safety defense litigation, public-works contracting, special districts, and telecommunications infrastructure. It is widely recognized as California's leading authority on local-government revenue law and as one of the state's top-ranked municipal-law firms by Martindale-Hubbell, Best Lawyers, Daily Journal, and Super Lawyers.

The business model is a professional-services hourly/retainer practice anchored in billable-hour compensation (associate salary bands of $125k–$185k for 0–5 year attorneys and $145k–$220k for 3+ year litigation associates, each at 1,800 billable hours). A secondary revenue stream comes from paid attorney-client-privileged webinars priced at $1,500 per agency. The firm is privately held by its attorney shareholders (Colantuono, Highsmith, Whatley, Bell, Summers, Walter, May, Giragosian, Graham) with no external parent, no institutional ownership, and no disclosed funding history. Marketing is conducted via conference speaking (League of California Cities, CALAFCO, ACWA, State Bar), the webinar program, periodic newsletters, and earned media from precedent-setting case results.

Name

COLANTUONO, HIGHSMITH & WHATLEY, PC

Legal name

Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC

Website

https://chwlaw.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC is a California municipal-law firm with six offices statewide that represents cities, counties, and special districts as city attorney, general counsel, or special counsel across public revenues, land use, litigation, and appellate advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Legal Services

NAICS

Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (921), Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Mayor/City Manager & General Administration (BPAIACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

City Clerk/Records, Elections & Civic Engagement (BPAIACAB), State/Provincial Licensing, Permitting & Regulatory Administration (Cross-sector) (BPAIABAO)

Keywords

• Municipal law services
• Public agency representation
• Appellate advocacy
• Public revenue law
• Special district counsel

Headquarters

HQ city

Grass Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Municipal Advisory: Attorney services for municipal governments including general counsel, city attorney, and special counsel roles. Billing appears to be based on billable hours with salary ranges indicating standard law firm compensation structure.
2. Webinar Services: Webinars on specific legal topics offered at $1,500 per agency, providing advice and guidance in an attorney-client-privileged setting.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC is a California municipal law firm providing comprehensive legal representation to cities, counties, special districts, and other local government agencies throughout the state. The firm serves as City Attorney, Town Attorney, or General Counsel to 15+ municipalities and as special counsel to 100+ additional public agencies, while also offering specialized litigation, appellate advocacy, and educational webinar services on topics such as Propositions 13, 62, 218 and 26, land use, CEQA, labor and employment, and public safety defense.

Product overview

Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC is a municipal law firm with offices across California (Grass Valley, Orange County, Pasadena, Sacramento, San Diego, and Sonoma) offering comprehensive legal services to local governments. The firm operates as a unified legal practice rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Core service offerings include: Public Revenues & Rate-Making (their leading practice, including expertise on Propositions 13, 62, 218, and 26 with 12 California Supreme Court arguments); Appellate Representation; Complex Litigation; Constitutional Issues; Elections Law; Eminent Domain & Inverse Condemnation; Gaming Regulation; Labor & Employment; Land Use and CEQA; Local Agency Formation Commissions; Marijuana Taxation & Regulation; Post Redevelopment & Affordable Housing; Public Safety Defense Litigation; Public Works Contracting; Special Districts; Telecommunications Infrastructure; and educational Webinars. The firm serves as city attorney or general counsel to multiple California municipalities and special districts, and as special counsel to dozens more.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Appellate Representation Supreme Court and appellate court advocacy for municipal clients, including 14 California Supreme Court arguments and numerous Court of Appeal cases on municipal law matters.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12 California Supreme Court arguments on government revenue cases since 2004
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Best Best & Krieger LLP: One of the largest California-based municipal law firms, BB&K serves as city attorney and special counsel for hundreds of California cities, water districts, and special districts, competing head-to-head with CHW for the same municipal-counsel engagements.
• Aleshire & Wynder LLP: California public-law firm serving as city attorney for multiple Southern California municipalities with expertise in municipal finance, employment, and land use, overlapping with CHW's California public-agency practice.
• Renne Public Law Group: San Francisco-based public law firm specializing in California municipal law, including public finance, revenue measures, election law, and litigation, competing with CHW in the Proposition 218/26 niche and appellate practice.
• Richards, Watson & Gershon PC: Long-established California municipal law firm providing city attorney, special counsel, and litigation services to cities, counties, and special districts across Southern California, with overlapping practice areas in land use, CEQA, public revenue, and labor law.
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore: California-based firm specializing in labor and employment law for public agencies, including cities, counties, and special districts, with overlapping municipal-law expertise particularly in the labor and employment practice area CHW highlights.
• Lozano Smith LLP: California-based public law firm providing comprehensive legal services to school districts, community colleges, cities, and special districts, with overlapping practice areas in governance, labor and employment, and Proposition 218/26 matters.
• Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP: California full-service public agency firm serving as city attorney to numerous municipalities and providing litigation and advisory services in municipal law, directly competing with CHW for general-counsel and special-counsel engagements.

Emerging players

• AlvaradoSmith: California-based firm with a public-agency practice serving cities and special districts on municipal law matters, an emerging competitor in the Southern California municipal-counsel market where CHW maintains a Pasadena office.

Others

• Cities Advocating for Public Safety (CAPS) Legal: Niche California public-safety defense consortium/JPA providing legal defense to law-enforcement agencies; tangential peer given CHW's public-safety defense practice group.

Broad incumbents

• Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo APC: Large California full-service law firm with substantial public-agency practice representing school districts, cities, and special districts, offering a broader geographic and practice-area footprint than CHW while competing for the same municipal mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about COLANTUONO, HIGHSMITH & WHATLEY, PC