Office of the City Attorney | City of San Diego

News Alert: Legal Opinion Outsourcing and Charter Section 117(c) regarding outsourcing

Welcome to the City Attorney's Office

San Diego's City Charter is the "Constitution" of the City-our highest legal authority in the City. Section 40 and 40.1 of the City Charter explain the role of the City Attorney:

"The City Attorney shall be the chief legal adviser of, and attorney for the City and all Departments and offices thereof in matters relating to their official powers and duties... It shall be the City Attorney's duty, either personally or by such assistants as he or she may designate, to perform all services incident to the legal department; to give advice in writing when so requested, to the Council, its Committees, the Manager, the Commissions, or Directors of any department [and] to prosecute or defend, as the case may be, all suits or cases to which the City may be a party..."

"The City Attorney shall...prosecute persons charged with or guilty of the violations of the state laws occurring within the city limits of The City of San Diego for offenses constituting misdemeanors."

Under the Charter, the City Attorney has three distinct roles:

Advisory - We provide advice to the City and each of its departments, including the City Council and Mayor.
Civil Litigation - We prosecute or defend, as the case may be, civil lawsuits in which the City is a party.
Criminal - We prosecute criminal misdemeanors and infractions committed within the City limits and in Poway.

Organization of City Attorney's Office

We have divided our office into divisions that reflect these three distinct roles - the Advisory Division, the Civil Litigation Division, and the Criminal Division.

In addition, there is a fourth division - the Community Justice Division - where we deliver community-based legal work on behalf of the City of San Diego such as consumer protection enforcement, code enforcement and neighborhood prosecution units.

Submit Your Money Savings Ideas

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith would like input from members of the public, our lawyers and staff, and other departments on how the City Attorney�s Office can save the City money and continue to provide quality legal work to the City and its departments. Since December 2008, the City Attorney�s Office has continued to implement savings and reductions which include:

Reducing outside counsel
Shifting costs to service level agreements and special funds when appropriate
Applying for grants
Filling vacancies only as needed & no over time
Efficiency in management

The City Attorney�s Office is dedicated to providing cost-saving measures to help close the budget deficit. Please see our general fund cost savings reduction plan that exceeds $7 million, FY2010-2011 Budget Letter. We look forward to receiving your money saving ideas and suggestions on how we can continue to save money without compromising quality legal work.

Submit your money saving ideas and suggestions to the Office of the City Attorney via email: cityattorney@sandiego.gov

Please note that your ideas along with your first name & last initial may be published on our web site or in our city attorney newsletter.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith
1200 Third Ave., Suite 1620
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 236-6220
Fax: (619) 236-7215
cityattorney@sandiego.gov

Advisory Division
Mary Jo Lanzafame

Civil Litigation Division
Donald Worley

Criminal Division
Andrew Jones
David Greenberg

Community Justice Division
Tricia Pummill

Integrity matters! We can best help our city by maintaining our integrity, providing timely, accurate and high quality legal representation to the City of San Diego. We will be firm, independent and professional, stopping illegalities while suggesting solutions. We will never forget that we are accountable to the people of San Diego and that we represent the City of San Diego.