MISTY M. SANFORD is an associate in the real estate practice group at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. She joined the firm after serving as a judicial extern for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Ms. Sanford represents institutional investors, developers, nonprofits, public entities, lenders, multi-national corporations and individual entrepreneurs in real estate transactions and land use matters. Her practice involves the acquisition, disposition, development and redevelopment (including land use entitlements and California Environmental Quality Act and Redevelopment Law compliance), financing, restructuring and commercial leasing of major real estate and land conservation projects.
Ms. Sanford graduated from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law where she was Chair of the Public Interest Law Foundation and a Hagman Land Use and Planning Scholar. She received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Whittier College.
Ms. Sanford is actively engaged in community affairs and pro-bono work. She served as President of the City of Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Commission. She is a founding member of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, a nonprofit that converts blighted parcels of land into neighborhood parks, gardens and community centers. She serves on the Board of Directors of Strategic Action for a Just Economy and is founder and Treasurer of For People of Color, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to empowering students of color to attend law school and become attorneys. In addition, Ms. Sanford’s pro bono clients include nonprofit affordable housing and park development organizations such as the Figueroa Corridor Community Land Trust, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and From Lot to Spot, Inc. Before pursuing a career in law, Ms. Sanford worked on urban environmental justice policy matters at the Environmental Defense Fund.
Ms. Sanford is an accomplished athlete and former artistic roller skating World and National Champion.
Ms. Sanford is fluent in Spanish and lives with her husband and two sons in Los Angeles.
Education
- University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law (J.D., 2005); Program in Public Interest Law and Policy; Hagman Planning and Land Use Scholar
- Whittier College (B.A., summa cum laude, Environmental and Social Policy, 2000); Greenleaf Whittier Scholar
