Office Overview

The Office of the City Attorney has a $15.5 million budget in 2007-2008 with a staff of 95 employees including 52 lawyers. City Attorney Rick Doyle leads a Senior Management Team that sets Office policy, and plans, directs, and manages the work of the Office to ensure the efficient delivery of legal services to the clients. The Senior Management Team includes the City Attorney; Two Assistant City Attorneys; the Chief Trial Attorney; Two Chief Deputy City Attorneys; the Chief Deputy General Counsel; and the Chief of Staff.

The Office also has a team of managers that supervise support services staff, including paralegals, legal administrative assistants, office specialists, and accounting and information technology personnel. In-house staff performs virtually every function necessary for the operation of a law office. Reliance on outside counsel and vendors is minimal and generally limited to situations where it is more efficient or cost-effective to outsource.

The Office is organized into three divisions: Litigation Services; Transactional Services; and Support Services .

Litigation Services

The Litigation Services Division is responsible for advocating, defending, and prosecuting actions on behalf of the City and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency. This includes a wide variety of activities that collectively attempt to protect the City and Redevelopment Agency’s rights, minimize civil and financial liability, and advance community welfare.

Staff in the Litigation Services Divison handle the following matters:

• general liability claims management
• lawsuits
• subrogation actions
• pursuit of contractual indemnities and appropriate insurance tenders
• alternative dispute resolution
• workers’ compensation investigations and litigation
• prosecution of municipal code violations
• injunctions for general nuisance; and gang and drug abatements to promote public safety
• representation before state, federal and appellate courts; agencies and boards, and administrative bodies

Generally the types of cases involve the following issues:

• torts
• civil rights
• wrongful death
• eminent domain
• inverse condemnation
• labor and employment
• San Jose Municipal Code violations

Transactional Services

The Transactional Services Division, including the General Counsel to the Redevelopment Agency, works in partnership with our clients to achieve organizational goals in a legal, cost-effective and efficient manner. Staff supports the City and Redevelopment Agency's policymaking function by providing the following services:

• oral and written legal counsel and advice
• draft and review ordinances, resolutions, contacts, permits, memoranda, and other legal documents to implement official City and Redevelopment Agency actions
• legal research
• legislative review and analysis
• attend and provide legal advice at meetings of the City Council, Redevelopment Agency, and City boards and commissions
• educate staff in relevant areas of the law, and keeping the clients informed on recent changes or developments in the law

Transactional Services generally involve the following areas:

• public safety
• land use
• economic development
• finance
• public works
• environmental
• transportation
• housing
• real estate
• code enforcement
• aviation
• employment and labor relations
• information technology
• ethics

Support Services

The Office of the City Attorney produces a high volume of transactional and litigation work. Meeting this workload demand in a timely manner is accomplished through a team effort by the entire Office. The Support Services Division together with Senior Management develop and implement strategic plans for Office operations including:

• Office Management and Analysis
• Budget Preparation
• Fiscal Management
• Personnel Services
• Records and File Management
• Computer Network Management
• Facility Management
• Law Library Maintenance
• Contract Maintenance