Renne Public Law Group (RPLG) welcomes Andrew Shen, who joins the firm as senior counsel after 15 years of service as Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco.
“RPLG was founded by former City Attorney Louise Renne and former Deputy City Attorneys Jon Holtzman and Art Hartinger,” said Andrew. “Because I am familiar with many of the RPLG attorneys and have worked with many of them in the City Attorney’s Office, I am proud to join a group of high-caliber attorneys who share my values around the importance of local government and client relationships.”
Andrew’s practice areas include general government advice, ethics and conflicts of interest, election law, constitutional law and public meeting and records compliance. At the City Attorney’s Office, he advised the Mayor’s Office, Board of Supervisors, commissioners, department heads and other City staff, and staffed public meetings of the Board of Supervisors, Board of Supervisors committees, and City commissions. His primary clients included the Ethics Commission, Department of Elections, Elections Commission, Ballot Simplification Committee, and Redistricting Task Force. He also served as a member of the City Attorney’s Office’s Land Use Team, leveraging his background in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Subdivision Map Act, and collaborated with the San Francisco Planning Department and Department of Public Works on project approvals and public infrastructure.
“I am proud of the strong attorney-client relationships I developed in San Francisco city government during my years in the City Attorney’s Office,” said Andrew. “We worked together to tackle and overcome many challenges to serve city residents.”
Most recently, Andrew, who led the City Attorney’s Office’s Ethics and Elections Team, collaborated with the San Francisco Department of Elections during a 14-month period in which the City and County of San Francisco held five separate elections, including its first recall elections in decades. He also advised the City’s Redistricting Task Force through the contentious and high-profile process of revising San Francisco’s supervisorial district boundaries, bringing the complicated process to a close without facing any litigation after the adoption of the final district maps.
Prior to joining the City Attorney’s Office, Andrew was a litigation associate at Keker & Van Nest LLP and a law clerk to the Hon. William J. Rea, Senior District Court Judge for the Central District of California. A former member of the California State Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, he holds a B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
“After 15 years in San Francisco City Hall, Andrew is well-positioned to handle a wide range of situations in an efficient and straightforward manner,” said Partner Art Hartinger. “We are honored to work collaboratively with him to address tough issues with exceptional legal service and the highest standard of ethics.”
RPLG practices throughout California, advising and advocating for public agencies, nonprofit entities, individuals and private entities in need of effective, responsive and creative legal solutions.