Deputy City Attorney - Government Litigation - City Attorney's Office (8177)

Company Description

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for a qualified and motivated attorney to join its Government Litigation Team.

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX) position; individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will."

• Application Opening: July 18, 2025
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Friday, August 1, 2025
• Compensation Range: $153,140- $268,320
• Recruitment ID: RTF0157334-01076923

About the Office
The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With over 300 talented and dedicated employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers City leaders with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services, and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, ideas, and lived experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected for their full authentic selves, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/aboutus/dei/

Currently, the Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/

Job Description

About the Government Litigation Team
The Government Litigation Team is a collaborative and dynamic group of four attorneys, two paralegals, and two legal secretaries. The Team handles litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts, principally on the defense side. The Team’s docket is broad, and generally focuses on defending the legality of City ordinances, regulations, and programs and of quasi-judicial decisions made by City administrative agencies challenged through administrative mandamus. The Team is experienced in litigating issues of federal and state preemption and all manner of federal and state Constitutional claims, focusing particularly on issues of free speech, free exercise and/or establishment of religion, equal protection, and due process. The Team also litigates issues arising under California constitutional or statutory provisions limiting the enactment of local taxes and fees, as well as under state and local open meeting and public records laws. Most of the Team’s cases involve principally legal rather than factual issues. 

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities
Attorneys on the Government Litigation Team typically handle their own cases, although a small subset of cases require Team members to work collaboratively with other attorneys on the Team. Attorneys on the Team handle all aspects of their cases, including litigation strategy, client communication and coordination, discovery and document review, motion practice, settlement evaluation and negotiation, trial and appeal. Many of the Team’s cases involve motions for preliminary injunction or other interim relief.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California

Desired Qualifications

• Five or more years of civil litigation experience, including appellate experience
• Excellent written and oral communication and advocacy skills
• Ability to research, understand and effectively communicate complex issues of constitutional law
• Ability to assume respons