Deputy City Attorney II/III

Los Angeles City Attorney's Office • Los Angeles City Hall - East, CA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney is one of the nation's largest municipal law offices, with over 1,000 legal professionals, including 500 attorneys. The Office provides the City of Los Angeles with high-caliber legal services, including prosecuting criminal misdemeanors, advising on homelessness initiatives, defending civil lawsuits, and bringing civil enforcement actions. The Criminal Branch is responsible for filing and prosecuting misdemeanor criminal cases from court offices throughout Los Angeles, as well as litigating appeals and extraordinary writs. The cases involve a wide variety of offenses, including California Penal Code violations, Los Angeles Municipal Code violations, and California Vehicle Code violations. The Office works closely with local law enforcement agencies and regulatory agencies to prosecute crimes.

The Brady, Ethics and Compliance Unit (BEC) addresses issues involving prosecutorial ethics, prosecutorial misconduct, Brady compliance, and criminal discovery procedures. Attorneys in BEC work closely with prosecutors, supervisors, Criminal Branch management, and the Executive Office to create and apply policies that ensure compliance with statutory duties, ethical obligations, and other rules and regulations regarding professional conduct. BEC serves as custodian of records for the Criminal Branch and provides training, advice, and law and motion support to attorneys in the Criminal Branch.

Requirements

• License to practice law in all of the courts in the State of California
• Five (5) years of prosecutorial experience with demonstrated strengths in Brady, criminal discovery, prosecutorial ethics and prosecutorial misconduct issues
• Broad knowledge of criminal law and procedure, including extensive experience in pretrial, trial, and post-conviction Law and Motion practice
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills, the ability to prioritize, concurrently complete multiple assignments
• Ability to work well under time pressure with minimal supervision
• Thorough understanding of current trends in criminal law and issues affecting substantive and procedural criminal law
• Command of misdemeanor filing, arraignment, calendar and trial court operations and procedures
• Proven ability to produce engaging instructional resources and technical training aids tailored to diverse learning styles
• Experienced in collaborating and interfacing with technical development teams to ensure the criminal case management system aligns with operational and compliance requirements
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written
• Ability to represent the Office in meetings with community stakeholders, the judiciary and law enforcement
• Skilled at navigating complex relationships with public officials, executive leadership, and the general public
• Ability to prepare reports, memoranda, budget requests and analysis of statistical data and trends
• Dedicated to fostering a supportive environment for attorneys navigating complex legal issues
• Strong sense of ethics and the ability to exercise discretion and maintain confidences

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated supervisory skills including: ability to guide and train staff, provide feedback and evaluations, performance management and conflict resolution
• Supervisory experience is desirable but not required for the position

Responsibilities

• Responding to requests from attorneys on novel legal and ethical issues that require swift response
• Providing oversight, training and mentoring of attorneys, including providing law and motion and in court assistance
• Maintaining the Officer Alert List, including coordinating with all law enforcement agencies that bring criminal cases to the City Attorney’s Office for timely inclusion
• Interacting directly with the Branch Management on matters being handled by BEC
• Advising and working with Branch Management on developing and implementing policies and initiatives that ensure that Branch operations are fully compliant with all state and federal laws, regulations, and guidelines, and reflect the Office’s policies and best practices for criminal practice
• Coordinating with the Training Unit to provide training on current legal trends as it relates to ethics, criminal procedure, and best practices, conducting formal and informal training, and devising and editing projects and presentations
• Responding to inquiries from Criminal Branch Management, Executive Management, other agencies or departments, law enforcement agencies and members of the public
• Responding to or assisting in responding to CPRA requests for Criminal Branch records
• Representing the Branch at meetings with judges, law enforcement agencies, elected officials, and members of the public as well as criminal justice groups
• Preparing reports, statistics, surveys, and budgetary recommendations, including addressing requests and referrals from the Executive Office and Branch Management
• Coordinating with the Director of Technology when technology is used to assist with discovery and other compliance obligations
• Other duties as needed for the criminal prosecution of misdemeanors and other work of the Criminal Branch as determined by operational needs

Benefits

• Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS)
• Mandatory employee pension contributions through payroll deduction
• City contribution toward employee’s retirement benefit

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level