Re-examination podcast: The historic return of Bruce’s Beach with George Fatheree

In this episode, George Fatheree III talks about his journey leading to his representation of the heirs of Charles and Willa Bruce, whose land in the city of Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles County was taken away from them a century ago.

Justice for the Bruces gained momentum in April 2021 when Los Angeles County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Holly Mitchell announced their intention to have Los Angeles County return the beachfront property to the Bruce’s legal heirs.

But the return was not a sure thing. Opposition loomed. There were thorny legal questions to answer, tax implications to consider, and legislative hurdles to clear.  At the time, a partner at Munger Tolles & Olson who would later leave for Sidley Austin, Fatheree had an ideal background for the assignment, which included politics, real estate, and projects supporting the African-American community. At Munger and Sidley, he was also backed by multidisciplinary teams, who eventually devoted more than 1,000 pro bono hours to creating a model for other governments to correct historical injustices.

Their work paid off. On July 20, 2022, the Board of Supervisors returned ownership of Bruce’s Beach to the closest living legal heirs of Charles and Willa Bruce. It was the first time any government in the United States had returned land wrongly taken from a Black family.