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Kelly G. Richardson

Partner

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Email Kelly G. Richardson

(626) 449-5577

234 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 800

Pasadena, CA 91101

Practice Areas

  •  Civil Litigation
  •  General Business
  •  Construction
  •  Real Estate Contracts
  •  Real Estate Disputes
  •  Real Estate Risk Management
  •  Common Interest Developments

Education

  •  University of Southern California, J.D. 1983
  •  University of California at Riverside, B.A., Political Science 1980

Bar Admissions

  •  California, 1983

Expert Witness

  •  Real Estate Standard of Care
  •  Common Interest Developments

Community

  •  Board of Directors, Various Local Churches
  •  Board of Directors, Local Private School
  •  Board of Directors, Pasadena Salvation Army
  •  Weekly Homeless Outreach Program, Pasadena 2001-
  •  Cliffs Club Interval Owners Association Board of Directors 2019 - 
  •  Cliffs at Princeville Apartment Owners Association Board of Directors 2020-

Professional Associations

  •  Community Associations Institute (CAI), National President, 2016
  •  CAI Board of Trustees 2011-2017
  •  California Association of Community Managers (CACM), Past Faculty Member, Legal Steering Committee
  •  Community Associations Institute (CAI), Greater Los Angeles Chapter President, 2004
  •  College of Community Association Lawyers, CCAL Fellow, admitted 2006
  •  American Board of Trial Advocates, 2010
  •  CAI California Legislative Action Committee, Chair 2009 & 2010
  •  California State Bar Association, Real Estate & Litigation Sections
  •  Settlement Officer, Glendale & Pasadena Superior Courts, 1996-2013
  •  Los Angeles Superior Court Arbitrator/Mediator, 1998-2011
  •  California Association of Realtors (CAR), Member, Legal Affairs Forum, 1999
  •  CAR Home Ownership & Investment Housing Committees, 2011
  •  CAR and National Association of Realtors 2008
  •  Chinese American Real Estate Professionals Association
  •  Los Angeles County Bar Association
  •  Pasadena Bar Association

Professional Accolades

  •  Super Lawyer, Real Estate – multiple years
  • AV® Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review rating

Experience

KELLY G. RICHARDSON is co-founder and Partner of Richardson|Ober LLP. In practice since 1983, Kelly is known as a devoted and successful trial attorney and advisor to real estate professionals, property and business owners, and common interest developments.

Kelly is heavily committed to the real estate profession. He serves as legal counsel for Six Southern California Associations of Realtors® (“CAR”), and is a member of the CAR Legal Affairs Forum and Housing Committees. For more than 20 years, Kelly was a GRI faculty member teaching GRI coursework on risk management, construction and development issues to hundreds of Realtors® annually. Kelly is a popular lecturer to Associations of Realtors®, professional real estate organizations and major brokerages and has authored numerous articles on real estate law in local and national business and trade publications. He is a licensed real estate broker, and is periodically consulted as an expert witness on the standard of care of real estate professionals.

Kelly is a leading advocate for California community associations, serving common interest developments for over 34 years. In 2006 he was the 16th California attorney admitted into the College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL), an elite group of attorneys serving the common interest community housing sector. In 2016, he was the international President of the Community Associations Institute (CAI), an organization with 45,000 members in four countries, and served on its Board of Trustees for seven years. For 18 years he has authored a weekly syndicated column on homeowner association legal issues, currently appearing in approximately 17 publications.

While he uses his experience and expertise to help clients steer clear of litigation, when litigation proves to be necessary and unavoidable, Richardson is an accomplished trial attorney and fierce courtroom advocate. He was in 2010 admitted to the American Board Of Trial Advocates, an elite jury trial attorney organization, skipping its entry-level membership and receiving admission as an “Associate” ABOTA member. He has prosecuted and defended major claims in construction, corporate and real estate law, as well as claims of breach of contract, franchise fraud, personal injury, unfair competition, professional negligence, wrongful death, breach of fiduciary duty, construction defect, and banking negligence.

Mr. Richardson is licensed to practice before all California state and local federal jurisdictions, and is a member of the Real Estate and Litigation Sections of the State Bar, Los Angeles County and Pasadena Bar Associations. He holds an “AV” rating with the prestigious Martindale Hubbell attorney listing organization – the highest available rating for competence and ethics, based upon peer review input.

Prior to founding the firm now known as Richardson | Ober | DeNichilo in 1994, Kelly was a partner in the Pasadena law firm of Barker & Richardson.

 

Leadership

  •  2016 International President, CAI
  •  Member, CAI Board of Trustees, 2011-2017.
  •  Fellow, CAI College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL), admitted in 2006.
  •  Long-time Past Faculty and Member of Legal Steering Committee, California Association Community Managers (CACM)
  •  Member of the Legal Affairs Forum, Homeownership and Investment Housing Committees of the California Association of Realtors® (CAR)

 

Select Courses, Authored and Taught

  •  Instructor and co-author Graduate Realtors Institute course #112, "Land Use, Construction Overview and Environmental Concerns", 1998-2019
  •  Co-author/originator, 8 hour CAI California Law Course for Common Interest Development Managers
  •  Co-author/originator, 3 hour CAI Basic Board Education Course
  •  Numerous (32+) courses on Real Estate Law

 

Other Publications

  • The Middle Ground,” Common Ground Magazine May 2022 
  • Co-author/originator CAR “Guide to Common Interest Developments”
  •  Weekly Columnist on HOA law in 17 newspapers – 2006-present
  •  Periodic articles in newspapers, trade magazines, and Association of Realtor® publications on common interest development and real estate law
  •  Frequently sought after by media regarding HOA and real estate issues

 

Other Distinctions

  •  “Super Lawyer” in real estate law
  •  CAI National Rising Star award, CAI, 2004
  •  Mae Russell Hall of Fame, CAI Orange County Chapter, 2009
  •  CAI Byron Hanke award, 2019
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