Abogado de la Ciudad — Ciudad de San Diego

The daughter of a longshoreman father and immigrant mother, Mara was the first in her family to graduate college, attending UC Santa Barbara and McGeorge School of Law.  Always dedicated to public service, Mara previously served as legal counsel to public schools, the transit district and the County of San Diego.

Mara and her husband Greg, a college professor, live in the community of Scripps Ranch with their two sons and rescue puppy, Lily Mae.

Since starting Briggs Law Corporation in 2002, Cory has been fighting for San Diego taxpayers -- working hard to protect their interests against the insider power brokers who’ve dominated City Hall for decades.

Briggs has lived in San Diego since the early 1990's when he attended California Western School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor and passed the bar exam in 1995.

Briggs was born and raised in Ontario, California.  His father, Dale, was a schoolteacher in the Chaffey Joint Unified School District and a co-owner of City Rentals, in Ontario. Cory’s mom, Judy, was a licensed clinical social worker in Ontario.  

His paternal grandfather, Homer, was a former member of the Ontario City Council and served as mayor pro tempore, and before that was a teacher and the superintendent at the Ontario-Montclair School District (OMSD).  

Briggs has two brothers: Jeffrey, a sales manager in Sacramento; and Curtis, a criminal-defense attorney in San Francisco.

Briggs attended Chaffey High School in Ontario, California; Chaffey Community College, where he graduated in 1989 with an A.S. degree in accounting. He also attended UC Riverside where he graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts and a major in philosophy.

His legal education began at California Western School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor law degree in 1995, the same year he passed the bar exam.

Cory continued his education at Claremont Graduate School, in Claremont, California, where he earned an M.A. in Philosophy in 1997; and at the University of Maryland and The George Washington University Law School.

Cory has taught a number of classes including the Philosophy of Law and an Introduction to Logic and Business & Professional Ethics at the University of Maryland. He also taught an Ethics in Business & the Professions at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.

Cory began practicing law in 1995 with Mundell, Odlum & Haws in San Bernardino, California, where he primarily litigated commercial and employment-related disputes. 

He spent time in Washington, D.C., adding environmental law and regulatory compliance to his practice from 1998-2002.

Cory returned to southern California in June 2002, where he founded Briggs Law Corporation. His legal practice has two offices, one in San Diego and one in Upland.

1) I refuse to accept campaign donations from lobbyists or anyone seeking to make business contracts with the City.

2) I refuse to accept endorsements from public officials or candidates for public office. Likewise, I refuse to endorse any other candidates for public office, the same way that judges refuse to endorse candidates. As the City Attorney, it will be my job to prosecute corruption. When it becomes necessary to prosecute a public official or a candidate, I do not want there to be any public perception that I did or did not prosecute because the defendant supported or opposed my campaign or because I supported one candidate over another. My first loyalty is to the public, not to other public officials and candidates.

3) I liken the City Attorney's job to that of the attorney for a trust. The voters and taxpayers are the beneficiaries of the trust, and the Mayor and City Council are the trustees who make the final decisions about how to operate the trust. The City Attorney must make sure that the beneficiaries (voters and taxpayers) have as much information as possible about the trust so they can advise the trustees (Mayor and City Council) about how the beneficiaries expect the trust to operate. The trust's lawyer (City Attorney) provides information and advice for everyone to see. If the trustees are poised to make a decision that could harm the beneficiaries, the beneficiaries will have the same information and can express their views to the trustees beforehand (public hearings and forums). If the trustees ignore the beneficiaries, however, the beneficiaries will have all the information they need to fire the trustees (at the ballot box). By promoting transparency, the City Attorney ensures that members of the public can exercise meaningful control over their government and protect themselves from bad actors.

4) Non-partisan offices -- like the City Attorney's Office -- should be apolitical.  Even government law offices should be run as professional law offices and not as political offices.

5) All lawyers -- and lawyers representing the public in particular -- should be fully transparent with their constituents and keep an eye on protecting taxpayers from corruption, waste, and abuse.