Martin D. Koczanowicz

Martin Koczanowicz became a member of Cota Cole LLP when Koczanowicz & Donaldson merged with Cota Cole. For the past 23 years, Mr. Koczanowicz has focused his practice on serving both public entities and private clients in the areas of municipal, environmental, insurance coverage and real estate law. He currently serves as the City Attorney for City of Grover Beach and Assistant General Counsel for the Del Rey Community Services District. Mr. Koczanowicz also works on collections matters for the firm and its clients.

Prior to establishing his firm in 1999, Mr. Koczanowicz served as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Fresno, where he litigated complex environmental coverage cases to fund cleanup of Superfund sites for the City, negotiated Consent Orders with the EPA and State regulatory entities, and defended civil rights lawsuits against the City. He chaired the 1983 Civil Rights Committee, served as a backup legal advisor for the City’s police department, and prosecuted municipal code violations on behalf of the City. While in private practice, he continued his work for public agencies, including land use and CEQA litigation for Madera County and land use and development-related cases, as well as business litigation for private clients.

Mr. Koczanowicz began his legal career in the Los Angeles area as an associate with Bollington, Stilz, Bloeser and Curry, and later with McKay, Byrne, Graham and Van Dam. His practice was concentrated in the areas of insurance defense, coverage issues, and environmental law.

Mr. Koczanowicz began practicing law in 1987 after receiving his Juris Doctorate from the University of La Verne. He is admitted in all of the state courts, the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern and Northern Districts of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Koczanowicz is a Member of Eastern Madera and Fresno County Bar Associations.

As volunteer work is one of his priorities, Mr. Koczanowicz spent 8 years on the Madera County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, coached and judged high school Mock Trial competitions, and judged Academic Pentathlon events in the County. Mr. Koczanowicz has also lectured in the area of constitutional law at the California State University in Fresno.

Mr. Koczanowicz is also available to serve as a mediator in litigation cases and out-of-court conflict or dispute resolutions. Mr. Koczanowicz has served since 2001 as a court-appointed mediator, and is on the panel for the Early Neutral Evaluation Process for Fresno County Superior Court.

Bar Admissions:

California Bar: 1987
United States District Court, Central District of California
United States District Court, Eastern District of California
United States District Court, Northern District of California
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals