James W Bruner, Jr

Jim Bruner is the Director of Orrick’s Governmental Affairs Practice Group. Mr. Bruner has over thirty years of experience with the state legislature and numerous administrations. His practice focuses on governmental policy and regulatory issues, primarily those relating to finance, tax, and corporate securities. Mr. Bruner has extensive state and federal policy and regulatory experience. In addition, he is a principal proponent of municipal government finance issues. He has worked with local governments, investment banks, the state legislature, and the Congress to draw attention to policy and legal changes needed to advance the ability of California municipalities to access financial markets, create more usable bond and finance laws, and update laws governing what public entities may undertake for public purposes. Mr. Bruner has directed Orrick’s Governmental Affairs Practice Group since joining the firm in 1984. Before that, he served for ten years as Executive Director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, where he gained recognition across the United States for raising concerns about Lake Tahoe to a national level. A sixth generation Californian, Mr. Bruner received his M.S. in Wildland Resource Science and his B.S. in Forestry and Conservation from the University of California, Berkeley, where he received the Outstanding Graduating Senior Award for 1970. As a Trustee of the University of California Berkeley Foundation, he is a principal advisor to the Chancellor, has been a member of the Executive Committee, and is a leading proponent of government and private funding for the UC Berkeley campus. Mr. Bruner is active in the campaign to renovate the historic Edwards Stadium on the Berkeley campus for a new international track and field and soccer venue. Mr. Bruner is an almond grower and with his family farms the Bruner Ranch at Crows Landing, California.