About Me
I am an attorney specializing in legal issues affecting cooperatives, nonprofits, and small creative businesses. I obtained my license to practice law through an uncommon path: by studying under the guidance of practicing attorneys through the California Law Office Study Program. Rather than attending law school I studied for the Bar Exam while apprenticing in the law offices of Cutting Edge Counsel and the Sustainable Economies Law Center, both in Oakland, where I gained practical experience working on a range of nonprofit and business law matters.
I also worked on staff as Policy Director at the Sustainable Economies Law Center for several years, leading legislative advocacy campaigns to advance homemade food sales, local agriculture, worker cooperatives, affordable housing land trusts, housing cooperatives, and local investing. While on staff at the Law Center, I also wrote or coauthored numerous legal information materials for nonprofit and business leaders, including two guidebooks created in collaboration with UC Berkeley; one on finance and securities law, and one on food safety laws (see links below). Among many client advising projects I supported at the Law Center, I advised multiple regional nonprofit organizations working on innovative projects to support farmers and ranchers, which entailed delving into securities law, anti-trust laws, agricultural producer cooperative laws, and more.
I have started two businesses, including a grocery enterprise and my own law practice. I have served on several nonprofit boards and steering committees including those of affordable housing cooperatives, my local credit union, and food policy advocacy organizations.
My truly unique legal education and my experience in leadership positions in a diverse array of organizations enable me to provide quality legal services to businesses, cooperatives, and nonprofits. My background helps me analyze issues from both a legal and a pragmatic perspective. For more about my areas of expertise see the practice areas page of my website.
I was born and raised in San Francisco and have lived in Berkeley for much of my adult life. I am active in numerous community groups that advocate around housing and land use policy, healthy and local food, and pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Stuff I’ve Written:
Free Legal Information Resources:*
Guide to Grassroots Financing for California Farmers (author), produced by UC Berkeley and the Sustainable Economies Law Center. While this guide is tailored to agricultural enterprises, many parts are generally applicable to any small business in California. Download here.
California Urban Agriculture Food Safety Guide (author of Section II on laws), produced by UC Berkeley, UC Cooperative Extension, and the Sustainable Economies Law Center. Download here.
Legal Eats (one of several contributing authors) produced by the Sustainable Economies Law Center. Download here.
*Please use these as general information resources to orient you to a new legal subject but do not rely on them as legal advice. I cannot promise they are entirely up to date or relevant to any particular person or organization’s legal needs.
Manual for Student-Run Food Cooperatives (primary author among several contributors/editors) produced in collaboration with CoFed, adapted from my undergraduate thesis. Download here.
Blog: My law practice blog has shorter articles about legal issues I get asked about most commonly.
Op Eds:
"Don't Uberize California's homemade food movement" Los Angeles Times, June 20, 2018
"Could There Be an Uber for Home-Cooked Food? Yes, but let's create laws that actually benefit the community" Edible East Bay, Summer 2017
"A better way to address the housing crisis" Berkeleyside, October 21, 2016
STAFF
Naomi Primero (they/she) works as a Legal Assistant. They were raised on Munsee Lenape / Lenni-Lenape land, currently known as the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania. They are passionate about food sovereignty and cooperative structures, leading the Berkeley Student Food Collective (BSFC) as a student at UC Berkeley and working thereafter at several Bay Area food and beverage businesses. They currently work as a staff member at Tea on Piedmont, continue to serve the BSFC as an alumni board member, and study accounting and graphic design.