BB&K Partner Ruben Duran awarded IMLA’s “Brown, Mulligan, Rocha Distinguished Public Service Award”

November 4, 2022 — Best Best & Krieger LLP is pleased to congratulate Ruben Duran, who was awarded the International Municipal Lawyers Association’s “Brown, Mulligan, Rocha Distinguished Public Service Award” at the 87th IMLA Conference on Oct. 21-22 in Portland, Oregon. The award is established to honor a local government attorney for significant and surpassing achievements in the field of local government law occurring or culminating in the previous year.

“As a city attorney, I’ve admired and benefited from IMLA’s excellent work for more than two decades. I’m honored by this recognition, and thankful to the many local government clients with whom my colleagues at BB&K and I work,” Duran said.

In the past, the “Brown, Mulligan, Rocha Distinguished Public Service Award” was known as the Joseph I. Mulligan Distinguished Service Award. The additions of Benjamin Brown and Susan Rocha, however, both reflect IMLA’s rich and diverse history as well as its continued recognition and celebration of local government attorneys who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to further the practice of municipal law.

Duran serves as managing partner of the firm’s Ontario office, and is city attorney for the cities of Ontario and Fontana and general counsel to the Oxnard Harbor District, which owns and operates the Port of Hueneme in Ventura County, and the Crescent City Harbor District at the Oregon border. As general counsel of these public entities, Duran is responsible for all legal services, including advising the elected boards and staff at public meetings and all day-to-day transactional, litigation  and legal advisory services.

His community service roles include serving on the California State Bar Board of Trustees, where he was recently appointed to a second term as Chair (the first time that has happened in the Bar’s 90+ year history), the Board of Directors of the Institute for Local Government, the Board of Directors of Coro Southern California (he was a Los Angeles Public Affairs Fellow in 1993-94) and the Southeast Arts and Cultural Foundation. He and his wife Cynthia live in Ontario and have two adult children, Diego (University of Oregon Class of 2017) and Nicolas (Columbia University Class of 2021).

View all the 2022 IMLA awards winners here.