Linda Ross

Ross has been at the forefront of local governments’ efforts to gain control of public employee pensions for years, including major roles in two state Supreme Court cases that upheld a significant reform statute.

She also has represented public agencies and governments in disputes over retiree medical benefits, wage and hour issues, union collective actions, bias allegations and police reforms. Before joining the Renne firm at its founding, Ross was a San Francisco deputy city attorney with stints as the mayor’s general counsel, the city’s chief labor lawyer and the general counsel to the police department and commission.

She said she is grateful to work in public law, where she always has some new legislative desire or political development to respond to for her clients. “There’s the opportunity to work on novel and cutting-edge issues practically on a daily basis,” she said.

The two Supreme Court cases upheld different provisions of the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act. In the first, she wrote the amicus brief submitted by the League of California Cities. Cal Fire Local 2881 v. California Public Employees Retirement System 6 Cal.5th 965 (Cal. 2019).

In the second, she represented the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District as a petitioner when the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a provision designed to curb pension “spiking.” Alameda County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association. 9 Cal. 5th 1032 (Cal., 2020).

The court had “a legitimate, constitutionally permissible reason to change these loopholes” because they were being abused, she said.

In more recent cases, she defeated a lawsuit by a sheriff who wanted the county to pay his legal fees to oppose a ballot measure increasing oversight of his department, an early example of the firm’s expanding work from the police reform movement.

Currently, she is representing San Francisco in a pair of lawsuits involving nurses’ overtime. And she is getting ready for a retrial, following an appellate win, over Los Angeles’ authority to adjust certain medical benefits for police retirees.

“The facts are always very particularized in these cases,” Ross said. “But I really think that’s the fun part of it. I really enjoy working with actuaries and accountants.”

— Don DeBenedictis