Cory Briggs
Cory Briggs. Photo by Sam Hodgson

San Diego attorney Cory Briggs is well-known for suing the city over land, government accountability and the environment.

His law firm often files these lawsuits on behalf of a string (nearly 40, so far) of charitable nonprofit organizations which he helped form, which share the same address as Briggs’ law firm, and from which he collects attorney fees and settlements. A law firm can’t seek damages on its own, but can on behalf of a client who has standing, who has allegedly been damaged by the defendant.

The best-known of Briggs’ nonprofits is San Diegans for Open Government, which has filed more than two dozen lawsuits against the city.

More than half of Briggs’ nonprofits have been suspended by state or federal government agencies for failure to file legally required documents showing finances, mission statements and board structures.

Listen to the discussion by clicking the play button above or read the full story at http://inewsource.org/2015/05/28/briggs-associated-nonprofits-flout-state-federal-laws/

Brad Racino was the assistant editor and senior investigative reporter at inewsource. He's a big fan of transparency, whistleblowers and government agencies forgetting to redact key information from FOIA requests. Brad received his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in...

3 replies on “Watch KPBS Roundtable discussion about Briggs’ nonprofits with Brad Racino”

  1. Take this “report” with a healthy dose of skepticism. There appears to be much more to the story according to these blogs:

    San Diegans for Open Government “Has Hit a Nerve” at sandiegans4opengov[dot]wordpress[dot]com

    What Happened to the Truth-Loving Angels? at sandiegans4opengov[dot]wordpress[dot]com

  2. Your readers should review the comments to your other articles and Dorian Hargrove’s story in The Reader on June 2. The comments indicate that inewsource is itself delinquent with the California Attorney General’s office.

    How do you take to the airwaves to criticize Mr. Briggs for something your own organization is doing wrong? You have no credibility.

  3. Non-Profits frequently shut down when their work is done. One that I was involved with was GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY of not closing down properly till way after the deadline. So it is not surprising that reports and filings are not made. However these are usually way after any meaningful actions. We are responsible for the filings not our attorney be it Briggs or another. When your volunteer chair dies and your treasurer moves it is hard to put the pieces back together. but remember “no ham-no fowl”

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