Chen, H. Vicky

Since entering the legal field in 2006, Laurel has been actively involved in all aspects of pre-trial construction litigation and public contracting matters. She played a key role in obtaining a multi-million dollar settlement for a public entity against a design-build contractor and architect for construction defects, as well as for fraud and embezzlement. Most recently, as part of the negotiating team, Laurel helped facilitate a favorable settlement agreement in a complex public construction matter, saving the client millions of dollars. Additionally, she has successfully settled lawsuits involving bid bond claims, prevailing wage claims and developer fee disputes for public school districts.

In addition to construction litigation, Laurel enjoys working on transactional issues of public construction and facilities planning, and has advised numerous public entities in drafting multi-million dollar bid packages and contracts for public works involving federal, state and local contracting laws. Laurel has provided regular counsel to public entities in areas such as Public Records Act requests and Brown Act regulations, as well as facilities planning and contracting. She also assisted in guiding clients through various statutory processes, including creating and expanding service zones, applying to the Local Agency Formation Commission for activation of latent powers, and assisting with placing special tax measures on the local ballot.

In her private practice, Laurel advised numerous technology start-ups through strategic planning and formation. Laurel is experienced in structuring and negotiating licenses; strategic collaborations, joint ventures and other technology transfer transactions involving various types of technology and intellectual property. Some of her recent transactions include the successful negotiation of a sizeable software license agreement between a client and one of the largest beer companies in America; drafting and negotiating the terms of an international license agreement for distribution of educational software; and assisting in the negotiation of a manufacturing and distributor partnership for new technologies in the entertainment field.

Prior to graduating from law school, she served as an extern with the California Department of Parks and Recreation where she assisted Staff Counsel in legal research regarding copyright, trademark, privacy and unfair competition matters; drafting licensing agreements; devising strategies for pursuing trademark infringers; and developing intellectual property policies for the Department.