Clinton Barnwell Monfort

Mr. Monfort specializes in constitutional law and civil rights litigation, municipal law, state legislation, firearms-related litigation and regulatory matters, and medical marijuana law and patient/collective advocacy. Mr. Monfort has litigated high-profile civil rights cases, drafted state legislation, and provided regulatory compliance advice to multi-billion dollar enterprises. Having represented his clients in the courtroom, before licensing agencies, and before state and local legislative bodies, Mr. Monfort is uniquely qualified to provide the highest level representation by knowledgeably considering all possible options to achieve favorable results for his clients.

Mr. Monfort has quickly emerged as one of the preeminent Second Amendment and civil rights litigators in the state, being the attorney primarily responsible for the development and litigation of the landmark case, Parker v. State of California, which found three state laws restricting the transfer of ammunition to be unconstitutional. Mr. Monfort successfully handled all phases of the litigation, ultimately achieving extraordinary and rare relief for his clients, a permanent injunction that prevented the statutes from being enforced. Mr. Monfort also achieved a favorable settlement in a high-profile challenge to San Francisco’s prohibition on the possession of firearms by public housing residents. The case, Guy Montag Doe v. San Francisco, was one of six cases filed across the nation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Heller v. District of Columbia, which held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. Doe v. San Francisco and its sister cases were aimed at securing a ruling that the Second Amendment is “incorporated” via the Fourteenth Amendment to apply to State and municipal governments. Mr. Monfort secured a repeal of the Housing Authority’s policies and obtained a settlement wherein the City conceded it is powerless to ban firearms possession by public housing residents.

In 2010, and 2011, Mr. Monfort was recognized by Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine as one of the top civil rights and municipal litigators in Southern California. In addition to his successes in the courtroom, Mr. Monfort also has extensive experience serving as regulatory compliance counsel. Mr. Monfort routinely represents clients in dealing with municipal, state and federal licensing authorities, including the California Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Mr. Monfort has drafted regulatory comment letters, and has obtained numerous state and local licenses held by his clients, including Dangerous Weapons Permits, Federal Firearms Licences, California Firearms Dealer Licenses, as well as licenses held by medical marijuana collectives. Mr. Monfort has also incorporated numerous medical marijuana mutual benefit non-profit corporations, and regularly provides compliance counseling to these businesses and represents them in dealings with municipal governments. Mr. Monfort has also provided extensive counseling on state and local legislative issues, having drafted multiple pieces of legislation and having analyzed hundreds of California Assembly and Senate bills.

Mr. Monfort received his bachelor’s degree in political science in 2002 from San Diego State University, where he was named to the Dean’s list. He later attended California Western School of Law, where he was a finalist in the 2003 Oral Appellate Advocacy Competition. Mr. Monfort was a recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship at California Western and earned his J.D. in 2005.