Cory Briggs — Nelson’s La Mesa Attorney
Over the weekend we received an email from a reader containing several links to some very interesting news stories about a Mr. Cory Briggs.
“Who the heck is Cory Briggs,” we hear you ask?
Mr. Briggs is an attorney with offices in San Diego and Upland California. He is very well known in the San Diego area and has an interesting law practice as well as a history which, according to the 4th District Court of Appeals, includes engaging in “unethical, unprofessional, or even illegal conduct…” — Though the court did later “in an abundance of caution” remove suggestions that Briggs might have engaged in illegal conduct. (“Cory Briggs’ conduct ‘unethical and possibly criminal,’ appellate court says”)
In a KPBS article “Briggs Lawsuit, Land Deal End Badly For Family” a very concerning picture of Cory Briggs emerges through his dealings with Gonzalo and Gabriela Arteaga.
According to the article, Gonzolo Arteaga said he turned to Cory Briggs, who said he’d help the Arteagas for free. In the end, the only one who walked away with anything of value was Briggs. We think this article is a must read.
In another article by KPBS “Judge Dismisses Suit City Attorney Candidate Cory Briggs Filed Against Ex-San Ysidro Superintendent”:
“His [Briggs] firm has been criticized for forming more than 30 nonprofits and then suing on their behalf, stalling major projects and collecting attorney fees through largely anonymous groups. An inewsource investigation in 2015 found more than half of them repeatedly violate state and federal laws by failing to file legally required documents showing finances, mission statements and board structures. State records reviewed this month by inewsource show most remain out of compliance”
We have provided a bunch of links to various news stories about Mr. Briggs below. We urge you to take the time to read them and others to form your own opinion.
Cory Briggs was hired by Shane Nelson and his Command staff in April 2024 at the impressive hourly rate of $750/hour to represent the Sheriff’s Office in a public records lawsuit against the City of La Mesa California.
In our opinion, the sole purpose of the La Mesa lawsuit is to use the ruse that the Sheriff’s Office is conducting a “Brady List” investigation into Vander Kamp to cover the true objective of the lawsuit which is to dig dirt on Vander Kamp from his time as an unpaid volunteer at the La Mesa PD almost 30 years ago.
We find it interesting that it was recently promoted Undersheriff Paul Garrison who signed the engagement letter with Mr. Briggs’ company, “The Briggs Law Corporation” on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office. We suspect Garrison signed because Shane Nelson didn’t want his name directly associated with the contract with Briggs. (Engagement letter linked below)
We believe the evidence shows that Sheriff Shane Nelson and his inner circle are using the power of the Sheriff’s Office’s as well as your money to do Captain William Bailey’s dirty work. Recall, Bailey is Nelson’s protege and the man Nelson endorsed to be the next Sheriff.
At the same time Nelson and company are doing everything they can possibly do to insulate, protect and shield Bailey politically and financially while at the same time trying to create doubt in the voters minds about Bailey’s opponent Vander Kamp as much as they possibly can.
The bottom line is that you, the Deschutes County taxpayer, are paying through the nose with your hard earned money for Sheriff Shane Nelson and his command staff to waste it on politically motivated lawsuits and investigations against Sergeant Kent Vander Kamp to the tune of $750/hour. We can’t wait to see the total bill for this whole escapade.
Let us not forget, these are the same people who just last year jacked up your taxes to the maximum amount allowed by law and who still complain they need more of your money. Now we can see why.
IS CAPTAIN WILLIAM BAILEY INVOLVED IN THIS AFFAIR?
Consider the following facts regarding Bailey and Nelson:
- Bailey is intimately connected with Shane Nelson, he has publicly referred to Shane Nelson as his mentor.
- In 2022 despite having been a lieutenant for barely two years and junior to EVERY other patrol lieutenant at the agency (in some cases by many years) Bailey was promoted to captain two years to the day after he was promoted to lieutenant — That folks is a record and we are in no way exaggerating.
- As a captain and member of Nelson’s Command Staff and inner circle, Bailey is a part of the the most sensitive meetings at the Sheriff’s Office.
- Bailey has been endorsed by Nelson to be the next Sheriff.
- Nelson has publicly admitted he carries Bailey’s election campaign cards in his pocket to hand out to people he meets.
Come to your own conclusions; however we think the answer to Bailey’s involvement is a definite yes. Given his close ties with Nelson is just too hard for us to believe that he has no idea about what is going on in the La Mesa case.
SUMMARY
We STRONGLY… REALLY STRONGLY, urge you to read the news articles about Cory Briggs which we have provided links to below.
After reading them we think you will be as shocked as we are that a law enforcement agency, would hire an attorney with Mr. Briggs’ history and background. Especially when a simple internet search would uncover it all.
It is beyond our comprehension that Shane Nelson and his command staff randomly picked Briggs to represent them in their lawsuit against the City of La Mesa.
To our minds Briggs’ selection was calculated and intentional. It points to exactly the kind of behavior which Shane Nelson and his inner circle seem to continually engage in and which we have been writing about in our articles for almost a year.
Ironically, men like Nelson, Bailey, and Garrison publicly tout themselves as highly ethical law enforcement officers. We think the evidence shows them to be the exact opposite.
We believe the over 30 lawsuits against Nelson’s administration (many filed by his own employees) and the millions of dollars in legal costs and fines paid by the county to defend against and settle them speaks volumes.
We must ask, at what point is this type of culture at the Sheriff’s Office going to end? At what point do the leaders in the county stand up and say enough is enough?
At the end of the day this is all very embarrassing for Deschutes County and its citizens.
LINKS TO NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT CORY BRIGGS
- Cory Briggs’ conduct ‘unethical and possibly criminal,’ appellate court says
- Briggs Lawsuit, Land Deal End Badly For Family
- Sanction involving San Diego attorney Cory Briggs creates legal precedent in California
- Nonprofits Linked To San Diego Attorney Cory Briggs Flout State, Federal Laws
- How San Diego’s Most Disruptive Lawyer Makes His Money
- Cory Briggs Brings Controversial Record To San Diego City Attorney’s Race
- Judge Dismisses Suit City Attorney Candidate Cory Briggs Filed Against Ex-San Ysidro Superintendent
- Appeals court vindicates attorney Briggs [removes suggestions that Briggs might have engaged in criminal conduct.]
REFERENCES
