H. Lawrence Serra
Attorney at Law
1135 Torrey Pines Rd. #2C
La Jolla, CA 92037
Tel: 858.454.2615
Fax: 858.228.1741
serra@serralaw.com
Practice Areas
Insurance Coverage for Policyholders: Commercial General Liability, Directors & Officers, Errors & Omissions, Title, and Property Insurance
Real Estate Development, Land Use and Construction Law
International Business Law
International Banking Practice and Documentary Letters of Credit
Education
MAS, Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UCSD, 2016
JD, University of Arizona, College of Law, 1974, Arizona Law Review
AB cum laude, Princeton University, 1967, New York Herald Prize
Bar and Court Admissions
California
District of Columbia
Pennsylvania (inactive)
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern, and Southern Districts of California
Attorney Qualifications:
Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Attorney
Experienced civil litigator and former prosecutor
San Diego Deputy City Attorney (1974-1975)
Insurance defense attorney (associate 1975-1977)
McDonald Hecht & Worley (Partner 1979-1983)
McKenna, Long & Aldridge (now Dentons) (Of Counsel 1994-2003)
Law Office of H. Lawrence Serra (1984-1994; 2003-Present)
International Experience:
Int’l business, licensing and sales transactions in Germany, the U.K., Belgium, and the Far East, including Hong Kong, the People’s Republic of China, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Counsels clients on international documentary letter of credit and electronic payments practices, the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Foreign Asset Control Regulations, and economic embargoes.
Founder of the American Bar Association’s Indo-China Project and the Cambodia Commercial Law Revision Project (1989-1996).
USCG MASTER’s license (100GRT Near Coastal) and has represented clients in vessel sales, maritime lien, and marine insurance issues.
Fluent in French and facility in Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish.
Adjunct Professorships/Lecturer:
University of Arizona Rogers College of Law (1999-2005); University of San Diego School of Law (1977-1996)- International Business Transactions in the LLM program.
Princeton University’s Politics Department- Urban Politics (1983-84).
Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UCSD (law modules in Scientific Advocacy, Clean Water Act in CA and Wetlands Protection (2016, 2018).
City Boards:
San Diego Wetlands Advisory Board, senior member, Land Use (2003-2015).
Military Experience:
LT USN, 2.5 yrs in Asia; served under ADM Elmo Zumwalt as a Naval Intelligence Liaison Officer in Vietnam and Cambodia (Bronze Star w/Combat V, ten other combat and campaign decorations).
Publications:
Voter Re-registration, 14 Arizona Law Review 590 (1972).
English translation of Cambodia’s Law on Foreign Investment, 10 East Asian Exec. Reports (Oct. 1990), adopted by the Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service.
Cambodia’s Law on Foreign Investment, 12 East Asian Exec. Reports 19 (Sept. 1990).
After the Peace Agreement: Law Revision in Cambodia, 13 East Asian Exec. Reports 8 (Nov. 15, 1991).
Danielson & Doig, New York: The Politics of Regional Urban Development (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1982) (contributing author).
Donovan et al., Rebuilding Cambodia Human Resources, Human Rights and Law (1992) (contributing author).
Folsom et al., International Business Transactions (West’s Nutshell Series) (West Publishing Co., 4th ed. 1992) (contributing author).
Kozolchyk, Letters of Credit and Bank Guarantees(unpublished) (practice editor).
Shen & Somerville, Climate Mathematics- Theory & Applications (Cambridge University Press 2019; early text editor).
HL Serra, NILO Ha Tien- a Novel of Naval Intelligence in Cambodia (2009),
HL Serra, The Sihanoukville Inquiry, a drama performed in San Diego in 2003.