Jenica D. Maldonado

Jenica D. Maldonado

SAN FRANCISCO - Jenica D. Maldonado has expertise in helping her public sector clients navigate legal, political and policy issues in high-stakes matters. She joined Renne Public Law Group, LLP in 2021 as of counsel and became a partner earlier this year. She advises cities, counties and special districts across the state, including the cities of Berkeley, San Francisco and Santa Clara.

Maldonado felt the pull of public service early on. During a high school externship for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, she worked on a few successful initiatives. Those early achievements, she said, pointed her toward public sector work, and sparked an interest in public law.

“It’s ironic, because government is seen as bureaucratic; it’s not necessarily a place where people see things getting done. But my early experiences taught me otherwise,” Maldonado said. “I felt I could be useful and create positive change.”

After a few years in private practice, she served as a deputy city attorney in the San Francisco city attorney’s office for nearly seven years working on the ethics and elections team and the labor team. The practical experience she gained during that time was invaluable, she said.

“It’s one of the few places you can go as a midlevel attorney, be given a file and be told this is truly your file and you have to own it,” she said. “When there’s no partner behind you, it forces you to rise up quickly, and I embraced that.”

Maldonado currently serves as special counsel to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) on legal issues arising from one of the worst workplace shootings in Bay Area history. On May 26, 2021, a disgruntled VTA employee opened fire on coworkers in the VTA rail yard, killing nine people. The shooter took his own life shortly after law enforcement arrived. A 10th VTA worker, struggling with PTSD following the attack, died by suicide months later.

“It’s been an incredibly challenging situation for the whole VTA community and for the larger community in the South Bay. I feel very privileged in being entrusted to help the agency work through those issues,” Maldonado said. “This is exactly the kind of work that I came into public service to do. I wanted to serve the greater good. I wanted to know that what I was doing was responsive to things that the community was grappling with. There’s nothing more poignant than that.”

--Jennifer Chung Klam