Yecenia picture

Yecenia Vargas

Associate

Orange County

t: (949) 223-1170

d: (949) 250-5437

e: yvargas@awattorneys.com

VCard

Bio

Yecenia Vargas currently serves as the Assistant City Attorney for the cities of Perris and Cypress, and Assistant General Counsel for Palmdale Water District and San Luis Rey Municipal Water District. Yecenia assists the firm with a broad range of legal matters, focusing her practice on land use and zoning, code enforcement, contracts, litigation, labor & employment (including issues under the CFRA, FEHA, ADA, and FMLA), and water law. She also advises clients on various matters relating to open government and ethics including the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, and the Political Reform Act. As Assistant City Attorney for Perris, she acts as primary counsel to the City’s Planning Commission.

During law school, Yecenia competed as a member of Chapman's Alternate Dispute Resolution Team, served as Treasurer of the Chapman Women Lawyers Association, and served as a mentor in the First Generation Scholars Program.

• Assistant City Attorney, Perris

• Assistant City Attorney, Cypress

• Assistant General Counsel, Palmdale Water District

• State Bar of California

• U.S. District Court, Central District

• Hispanic National Bar Association Vision-in-Action Scholar

• Chapman Law Excellence Awards in Client Counseling and Negotiations

• CALI Awards in Trial Practice and Practice Foundation Transactions

  • Orange County City Attorneys Association June 2022 Monthly Meeting – “Telecommuting Agreements, Records Retention, COVID-19 and More: Hot Labor & Employment Issues You Should Know”
  • 2022 CALPELRA Annual Conference – “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: Best Practices for Employee Performance and Minimizing Liability When Letting Employees Go”
  • 2022 CALPELRA Annual Conference -- “Every Breath You Take: What You Should Know About Employee Surveillance”
  • 2023 League of California Cities Spring City Attorneys Conference – “DEIB, Microaggressions, and Decentering: A Path to Cultural Shift in Organizations”

• Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law, JD, 2020

• Chapman University, BA & BS, 2016