Officials’ Texts, Chats, and AI Transcripts Under Public Records Laws: Agency Search Protocols and Defending Public Records Lawsuits

Leah Castella, Partner | Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP

Leah Castella is a partner in the Oakland office of Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP, and a seasoned public law lawyer, litigator, and appellate advocate. She currently serves as General Counsel of the Ironhouse Sanitary District, the Valley of the Moon Water District, and the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, and as Assistant General Counsel for the Union Sanitary District. Deeply familiar with the full range of laws affecting California public agencies—including the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act, Proposition 218, and the Public Trust Doctrine—Leah has particular expertise advising public agencies on governance, rate setting, election law, and constitutional law.

• Education & Credentials

Leah received her J.D. with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1999 and her B.A. in Philosophy from Lewis & Clark College in 1995. She is admitted to the State Bar of California and before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and all four U.S. District Courts in California.

• Recognition & Leadership

Leah was recognized by Women’s eNews as one of its “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” (2011) and received the 2003 Burton Award for Excellence in Legal Writing. Within the firm, she serves as a partner in its public law and litigation practices, and her leadership extends to multiple public agencies for which she serves as general or assistant general counsel.

• Professional Involvement

Leah is the founder and Board Chair of the Women’s Debate Institute and a board member of the Bay Area Urban Debate League, reflecting a longstanding commitment to advocacy education and mentorship. She is also a frequent speaker on public law topics, presenting on subjects such as the Brown Act and public records challenges in the AI era, and she has authored publications on redevelopment dissolution and related public finance matters.

• Experience

Over the last decade, Leah has built a team that can be quickly marshalled to assist public agencies across the state with their responses to voluminous and politically sensitive PRA requests.

As a seasoned public law lawyer, Leah is familiar with the full range of laws affecting California public agencies, including the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act, Proposition 218, and the Public Trust Doctrine. She has particular expertise advising public agencies on governance, rate setting, election law, and constitutional law.

Leah is also an experienced litigator and appellate advocate. She has handled dozens of cases in state and federal court on behalf of public and private clients. And she has successfully argued over a dozen cases in the California Court of Appeal. Her areas of expertise include eminent domain, inverse condemnation, regulatory takings, municipal finance, government ethics and transparency, and constitutional challenges to local legislative enactments.

Alexandra (Alex) Mulhall, Associate | Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP

Alexandra (Alex) Mulhall is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP, and a member of the firm’s Public Law and Litigation practice groups. Alex advises and represents public entity clients on a wide variety of matters, including the California Public Records Act, the Brown Act, election law issues, leasing and grant disputes, constitutional First Amendment issues, and code enforcement. She has defended public entities in litigation ranging from inverse condemnation and premises liability to public contract disputes and Public Records Act matters.

• Education & Credentials

Alex earned her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, where she served as a Managing Editor of the UCLA Journal of Gender & Law and worked as a law fellow for the UCLA Voting Rights Project. During law school, she also interned for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Government Services Division. Before law school, Alex graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wyoming with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in the Interdisciplinary Honors Program.

• Recognition & Leadership

Alex served as a Managing Editor of the UCLA Journal of Gender & Law. Throughout her undergraduate studies, Alex served in student government which allowed her to engage with both the local city council and state legislature, lobbying for student needs.

• Professional Involvement

During law school, Alex interned for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, as well as the Los Angeles County Counsel in the Government Services Division. Alex also worked for the UCLA Voting Rights Project as a law fellow, assisting in voting rights litigation and policy initiatives.

• Experience

Alex frequently advises clients on the California Public Records Act. This includes managing the response to numerous PRA requests, collecting and searching documents, applying exemption analysis to specific documents, and negotiating with PRA requesters. Alex has also conducted extensive research on the Public Records Act, including researching the factors to assess for determining whether chats and text messages from public officials constitute a public record. In addition, Alex has developed and administered trainings about the Public Records Act and defended public entities against claims made  under the Public Records Act. Alex has also assisted with the development of record retention schedules and advised clients on appropriate retention practices in light of applicable laws and best practices.

Alex has defended public entities in various types of litigation, including inverse condemnation, premises liability, public contract disputes, and Public Records Act litigation.

SESSION 1 – Collecting Officials’ Texts, Chats, and AI Records | J. Leah Castella & Alexandra Mulhall | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session teaches public-body advisory and defense counsel how to collect a council member’s texts, chat messages, and AI records under state records acts without the agency ever taking custody of the phone. The hour runs from proactive communication guidance and retention polices, through the selfsearch certification and the choice between self-export and neutral-examiner extraction, to Teams chat, AI application and notetaker retention settings. This session is led by practitioners who have constructed and managed these searches for officials, created agency retention policies and guidance, and who can speak to current data storage challenges and the pitfalls of record mismanagement in the digital era.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Defending Public Bodies in Records-Act Suits Over Incomplete Personal Device Searches | J. Leah Castella & Alexandra Mulhall | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session teaches defense and advisory counsel to public bodies facing records-act suits that claim an agency search missed an official’s texts or chat messages, or failed to produce them altogether. The hour runs from the identification of litigation risks and common triggers for a public records lawsuit under California law, through the produce, supplement, or litigate decision. The speakers’ experience defending these suits is what turns the statutes and critical decisions into judgment attendees can use: how to navigate pre-litigation interactions with requesters, the role of self-search certifications and affidavits, managing resistant officials, and navigating fee demands.