Nicole M. Walsh

For 20 years, Nicole Walsh has advised and represented County departments on compliance with State Planning and Zoning law, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Eminent Domain, Public Records Act, and Brown Act. She has represented the County of Orange in complex CEQA litigation resulting in three published Court of Appeal opinions and seven unpublished opinions. Ms. Walsh is the County's lead CEQA and land use advisory and litigation attorney.

Ms. Walsh graduated with her BA in Government from Scripps College in Claremont, California. She obtained her J.D. from Whittier College and graduated Summa Cum Laude and Valedictorian. After a judicial clerkship in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Ms. Walsh has spent nearly 20 years in the County of Orange at the Office of County Counsel, where she began as a Deputy and has risen to executive management.

Ms. Walsh received her Executive Credential from the California Association of Counties Executive Institute in May 2026. She served for four years on the Orange County Bar Association's Judiciary Committee. Ms. Walsh served as an Adjunct Professor of Legal Analysis at Chapman University Law School. Her article, "The Collusion of Consent, Force, and Mens Rea in Withdrawal of Consent Cases: The Failure of In Re John Z," appeared in the Whittier Law Review in 2004.