Tim Paone

Tim brings to his clients an uncommon blend of technical expertise and strategic thinking formed by decades of land use experience. His practice focuses on CEQA, the Coastal Act (both permitting and enforcement defense), Development Agreements, and local planning. Geographically, it covers not only Southern California’s coastal counties and the Inland Empire, but also communities in central and northern California. Land entitlement is not a “one size fits all” exercise. Each client has its own objectives and each public agency has its own persona. For Tim, achieving the client’s end game involves pragmatic dealmaking informed by work on some of California's most challenging and diverse projects, experience in private land development, and land use litigation in courtrooms throughout the State. In 2020, Tim was recognized by Best Lawyers® as Orange County’s “Lawyer of the Year” for Land Use and Zoning Law. In 2012, he was named one of "California's Top 30 Real Estate Lawyers" by California's leading legal publication, The Daily Journal. Based solely on peer review, Best Lawyers® also has recognized Tim’s prominence in his field every year since 2007. Tim has managed entitlement for The Irvine Company's properties in Newport Beach, Anaheim, and Orange, served as a Huntington Beach Planning Commission Chair and Governor's appointee to the California Law Revision Commission, and taught land use as an Adjunct Law School Professor. Currently, he is President of HomeAid Orange County | Los Angeles and a member and former President of the Board of the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation. He previously was active on the Boards of the Building Industry Association of Orange County, the Community Foundation of Orange (Founding Board Member and past President), and the Foundation for the Great Park. Beyond his own skillset, Tim brings to his clients the considerable resources of Cox Castle’s deeply experienced statewide Land Use & Natural Resources group which has been honored by Best Lawyers® as the nation's "Law Firm of the Year" for land use and zoning in 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2024. Cox Castle is one of the country’s largest full-service law firms specializing in real estate, meaning that our environmental, affordable housing, construction, finance, and other teams are available to assist our land use clients.