Experience

Robert M. DeNichilo is Managing Partner at Nordberg|DeNichilo, LLP. He has over twenty-five years of legal experience and focuses his practice exclusively on the representation of community associations throughout California as corporate counsel.

Robert began his career representing insurance carriers, providing them with insurance coverage advice and defending them in multi-million-dollar bad faith lawsuits, taking several of them to trial or resolving them by winning dispositive motions. After spending a decade as a litigator and insurance coverage lawyer, Robert transitioned his practice to representing small and medium sized businesses, providing general counsel advice, negotiating complex issues to get the parties to a “win-win,” and guiding boards in matters of corporate formation and governance. This led Robert to representing community associations, and he has devoted his practice exclusively to the representation of community associations for over a decade. His wide-ranging litigation and business experience benefits his clients as Robert is able to quickly identify the key issues and focus on what matters to leverage positive outcomes for his clients.

Robert is an active member of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and has been awarded Author of the Year by multiple CAI chapters for his articles on community association issues. He serves as the CAI Orange County Regional Chapter’s delegate to CAI’s Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) and regularly meets with state and federal legislators to discuss issues related to community associations. In 2016, Robert was elected to the Orange County CAI Chapter’s Board of Directors, and served as the 2022 Chapter President. Additionally, Robert is one of fewer than 175 attorneys nationwide to be admitted as a Fellow of CAI’s College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL). CCAL Fellows are recognized for committing themselves to high standards of professional and ethical conduct.

As a strong advocate for education for community association managers and boards, Robert regularly speaks at educational and training events for industry organizations, property management companies, and board members throughout California. Robert is the founder of HOABrief.com where he frequently provides expert insight on community association topics. He has contributed to industry and national publications and has been quoted in a variety of publications, including CAI Connect, CAI’s OC View, USA Today, Common Ground and Habitat Magazine and the OC Register.

Select Publications

• Responding to An Accommodation Request? What’s Your Policy? OC View (CAI Orange County Regional Chapter), January/February 2017 *Awarded “Author of the Year” by the Orange County Chapter of CAI

• Who’s the Boss? The National Labor Relations Board’s New Standard for Determining Joint Employment May Make Community Associations and Management Companies Responsible for Contractors’ Pay, Benefits and Legal Liability, CAI National Magazine, Common Ground, September/October 2016

• The ABC’s of ADR & IDR, OC View (CAI Orange County Regional Chapter), March/April 2015 *Nominated for Author of the Year Award

• Protecting a Board Member’s Emails, OC View (CAI Orange County Regional Chapter), January/February 2013

• “Yay! I’m on the Board!” or, “OMG, What Did I Get Myself Into?” Connect Magazine (CAI GRIE Regional Chapter) Issue Three, 2013 *Awarded “Article of the Year”

• What Makes for a Good Set of Meeting Minutes? OC View (CAI Orange County Regional Chapter), November/December 2012

Select Seminars

• “Whose Job is it Anyway, Fair Housing Requirements for Community Associations”

• “State of the Industry in 2022”

• “Taming the Trolls, Tackling Harassment and Defamation in Community Associations”

• “Are You Effectively Bridging the Communication Gap Using Digital Media?”

• “Build Your Rule-Making Toolbox,”

• “Community Associations and the Joint Employer Conundrum: Is the Association Vendor its Employee?”

• “Governing Document Amendments – The Whys and the How To and Process of Changing an Association’s CC&Rs and Bylaws”

• “Handling Bad-Boy Board Members and Out-of-Bounds Owners”

• “Housing in California; How the High Cost of Housing is Impacting California’s Community Associations”

• “Improve Your HOA Meetings: What You Need to Know About Robert’s Rules and Other Parliamentary Procedures”

• “Power to the People: Recalls, Petitions, and Other Demands for Board Action”

• “Short-Term Rentals: Long-Term Enforcement Strategies”

Select Courses, Authored and Taught

• Served as faculty for CAI Orange County Regional Chapter, Community Leadership Training Program, “Community Association Law” Course.

What Clients Are Saying