Attorney Spotlight: Lauren D. Layne
Welcome to our attorney spotlight series. In each installment, we interview an attorney at our firm to get to know them better. We will learn about their unique insights, experiences, and personal journeys within the legal landscape. Our series aims to shed light on the diverse expertise and rich narratives that shape our team, offering a unique window into the world of law through the eyes of those who navigate its complexities daily. Join us as we explore the stories behind the suits, one attorney at a time.
View Lauren’s attorney bio here at this link.
Give an overview of your legal career.
I was not someone who planned to go to law school. I have an undergraduate degree in Soil Science from Cal Poly. I knew I was going to go to graduate school but wasn’t sure for what. So, I applied to law school with the intent of practicing water law. I figured that if I didn’t like it, I would end up in politics.
I graduated from McGeorge Law School in 2010 and started at Baker Manock & Jensen in January of 2011, after having my first child. I have been with Baker Manock & Jensen my entire career.
I practice water law and public agency law, and handle agribusiness matters. Initially, I worked primarily with Doug Jensen and Ken Price. Over time, I developed my own book of business and became a partner after my sixth year at the firm. At that time, I began working with other partners, associates and developing my own team.
I did some litigation early on in the first three or four years of my practice but stepped away from litigation due to the complexity of dealing with litigation deadlines at the same time as public agency and transactional deadlines. The exception to this is that I still do Eminent Domain and Condemnation work. I’ll often do the negotiation side on the front end for our existing public agency clients needing to acquire land or easements for projects, or for our private agribusiness clients who are dealing with entities coming in to take a portion of their land. If we end up having to go to trial, Dirk Paloutzian in my office is the lead litigator.
I have been very involved within the firm. I currently serve on the firm’s three-person Executive Committee, and I chair the Business Department and Water Law and Public Agency practice groups. I am also responsible for firm marketing.
As a firm, we are very involved in monitoring legislation on behalf of our clients. I chair the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) State Legislative Committee, sit on the Kings River Water Association Legislative Committee, and represent our firm as an associate member of the Valley Ag Water Coalition. The legislative work we do is really beneficial to our clients and not something I necessarily knew I would get involved in through my legal career. I’m not a lobbyist, but I get to work with several lobbyists and attorneys who are lobbyists during the legislative session. That’s been really fun too. Frustrating, but fun.
Who has made the biggest impact on your development as an attorney?
I have a couple answers to that question. First, I would say my mentors. Doug Jensen has been a mentor to me from day one and having him guide me through my legal career made a huge difference in my ability to streamline my expertise. This came through various training activities like Doug taking me to irrigation district and water district board meetings or Kings River Water Association meetings as soon as I arrived at the firm. I got a lot of boots on the ground experience very early on, and I was very lucky to do that because most attorneys don’t have that opportunity that Baker Manock & Jensen was able to provide. Doug was very adamant about making sure I met his clients and developed those relationships.
Similarly, my friends and peer mentors, Ken Price and Matt Hoffman, have taught me a ton in my career. I can ask them for feedback, advice, or a second opinion on anything. That’s made a huge impact on my career and my development as a lawyer.
And then I would say clients. As I’ve developed new clients and worked with existing clients of the firm over time, I realized that my clients have really been the ones who make this job worthwhile every day. I like problem solving for them and helping them, and they have historically fought for me and stood up for me in situations where they did not have to do so. At certain times in my career, clients could have easily said, “Okay, great, I’m going to just go use another attorney.” Instead, my clients responded with, “What do you need? We’re here for you and we want you as our legal counsel.” I would say my mentors and clients are probably the two most influential forces in my career.
Tell us about the most interesting or unexpected part of being a lawyer or something you’ve learned about being a lawyer.
The most unexpected part of my job is that I provide a lot of advice, not necessarily legal advice. Many of my conversations are about getting to know my clients because it becomes a relationship dependent on trust. There’s a lot of client advising in this role that I probably didn’t expect when I went into this position, or at least not to the degree that I do now.
Also, being a lawyer requires problem solving, and that’s something I’ve always really liked. I’ve found that component of being a lawyer to be something that I truly enjoy doing. For example, I’m not somebody who loves to initiate litigation. I will if we need to, but I’d much prefer to solve the problem so that it’s less expensive for my clients and less time consuming for all parties. Of course, if we have to end up in litigation, I have great partners who can handle it!
Both of those elements, problem solving and advising, are actually very enjoyable to me and are reasons why I love this career.
How do you spend your time outside of the office?
Outside of the office, I am a mom and a wife, and so I spend a lot of time on those activities. My boys are 13 and 11 and play lots of sports. I have two dogs, one of whom is a puppy, who also take up a lot of time as well.
We’re an active family, which I love. We do several weekend trips, for sporting events, runs, triathlons, snowboarding/skiing, hiking, beach days…you name it. We really enjoy being outside as much as possible with the kids and being a part of all of their activities as they’re growing up. Additionally, in my thirties, I decided I needed an outlet and found that I really appreciated running. I try to get in a run, or at least a walk, a couple times during the week. It’s a good stress reliever too.
In addition to all my kids’ activities, I am very involved with higher education. At Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, I serve as the Immediate Past President of the Cal Poly Alumni Association and as the Vice Chair of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council. This year, I am serving on the Search Committee for the new Dean for the College of Agriculture Food and Environmental Sciences at Cal Poly too. I am also the Immediate Past President of the McGeorge School of Law Alumni Board of Directors. I mentor both undergraduate and law school students on a regular basis and occasionally get to be a guest lecturer in a class. I would say this is what takes up the bulk of my “non-billable” time.
You’re very busy, what are your top tips for time management? How do you balance your time?
Time management is always hard. It really is. I live by my calendar. If anything ever happened to our Outlook calendars, I don’t know what I would do. At the core, it’s about deciding what’s important and what’s a priority at that particular time and focusing on that.
For example, maybe mental health is something that’s the priority. That might look like going into the office a little bit later in the morning, because I really need to work out first. That being said, working out is often one that gets pushed to the back burner for me. Generally, my boys’ needs and activities take priority. However, I enjoy checking items off my list, so I get satisfaction from running errands and making sure everyone in my house has what they need for that week.
It’s important to remember that priorities evolve over time. There’s definitely not a one size fits all schedule. This was especially true when my kids were younger. I’ve had kids the entire time I’ve been practicing law, which means that family has always been a priority in my practice. I couldn’t work the insane hours all the time that younger associates generally do. I did still work insane hours when we needed to, because it’s a team at Baker Manock & Jensen and we make sure we get the job done, but it definitely wasn’t a consistent thing. However, I have always worked at least a little bit on the weekends, because that is generally a quite time and I am able to get tasks completed that require my complete attention.
My ideal typical day involves a morning workout, taking care of the dogs, emptying the dishwasher, filling water bottles for my boys and myself for the day, maybe running an errand or two on the way to work, but still getting to the office by eight, and then I like to work until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. In my house, we typically have an evening events or sports activities, but we prioritize the four of us having dinner together at night so we can hear about what went on during the day and what’s going on for that week. To unwind, give me a good mindless show or a movie at the end of the night that I can just zone out to. Something positive, like a Hallmark movie, and not reality TV. Sometimes I’ll also bake or organize something in my house, because I’m too type A and those hobbies actually calm me.
