REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 23, 2026
FROM
LAURA FEINGOLD, County Counsel, Office of the County Counsel
SUBJECT
Title
Consent to Waiver of Potential Conflicts of Interest
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve a waiver of a potential conflict of interest arising out of representation of San Bernardino County by the Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP law firm.
2. Authorize the County Counsel or Chief Assistant County Counsel to execute the waiver of conflict of interest.
(Presenter: Laura Feingold, County Counsel, 387-5455)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional discretionary general funding (net County cost) as it is non-financial in nature.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The San Bernardino County Human Resources Department and the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector utilize the services of outside counsel Marcus Wu (Mr. Wu) to advise on various tax and employee benefit matters. Mr. Wu moved to a new firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (Morgan Lewis). A potential conflict of interest has been raised by Morgan Lewis and requires the County to execute a conflict waiver to continue utilizing the services of Mr. Wu.
Morgan Lewis currently represents the BKK Working Group (Working Group) in connection with a matter captioned as BKK Working Group, et al. v. 1700 Santa Fe Ltd., et al, Case No. 2:18-cv-5810, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (BKK Litigation). The BKK Litigation arises from the State of California’s claims against the Working Group for the reimbursement of costs associated with the state’s clean-up of hazardous material at a BKK landfill facility located in West Covina, California. While the County is not currently named as a defendant in the BKK Litigation, the County could be named in the future if allegations are made that the County contributed hazardous waste to the site and is responsible for a portion of the clean-up costs. Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, Morgan Lewis must disclose its existing relationships and get consent from both the County and the Working Group to proceed.
The impacted departments would like to enter into a contract with Morgan Lewis to continue the relationship with Mr. Wu, who is an expert in public benefits and taxation issues and is familiar with County operations. County Counsel has reviewed the consent to waive the potential conflict of interest and believes there would be minimal risk regarding Morgan Lewis’ representation and that it would be appropriate for the Board to approve the waiver of the potential conflict of interest and authorize County Counsel or Chief Assistant County Counsel to execute the consent to waive the potential conflict of interest.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Cynthia O’Neill, Chief Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on June 2, 2026; County Finance and Administration (Penelope Chang, Principal Administrative Analyst, 387-4886, and Garrett Baker, Administrative Analyst, 387-3077) on June 3, 2026.