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Office of the City Attorney
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Read the profile of City Attorney Dennis Herrera in the June issue of San Francisco magazine: "The Other Man: The untold story behind San Francisco's audacious fight that led to the California Supreme Court's decision to legalize gay marriage" by Susan Kostal (Photograph by Lenny Gonzalez). 
TAKING A STAND: "Doing what we can do to ensure civil rights for everyone is not something we are going to back away from," San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera says of same-sex marriages. Read the Los Angeles Times profile by Lee Romney. 
The City Attorney's Good Government Guide for 2007-08 (PDF, 1.1 MB) and the accompanying Good Government Guide Supplement (PDF, 1.1 MB) are available to download online. And that's not all: the City Attorney's Office has made available online an entire panoply of Sunshine & Good Government Resources, including archived editions of the Good Government Guide. Officials can comply with the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance and AB 1234 by visiting our Sunshine and Good Government Resources page. The resources page includes the online training video of Rules of Conduct for Public Officials 2008. Officials can fulfill their annual Sunshine training requirement by watching the Sunshine portion of the video. Officials can also fulfill their biennial ethics training requirement under state law (AB 1234) by watching the entire video and completing the Self-Study Test for 2008. To comply with the Sunshine Ordinance, each official must submit a Sunshine Ordinance Declaration by April 1 (or, for newly appointed officials, within 30 days of assuming office) to the San Francisco Ethics Commission at 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 220 in San Francisco. Each official also must submit a Certificate of Ethics Training upon completion of the AB1234 requirements. 
Online viewers now have the opportunity to view the office's training program on bond disclosure responsibilities under federal disclosure laws. The two sessions below reflect training programs oriented toward City employees as well as such City officials as San Francisco Supervisors and City commissioners.
The City and County of San Francisco and the County of Santa Clara have joined in filing suit against the state for illegally preventing disadvantaged youth from receiving Medi-Cal benefits while they are in the custody of a public institution and immediately following their release. Said City Attorney Herrera when the case was filed in October 2007: "By denying Medi-Cal benefits to underprivileged youth in custody, and by increasing their vulnerability by not restoring coverage to them upon their release, state administrators are betraying the promise of a federal program intended to ensure medical coverage for our most vulnerable residents."
City Attorney Dennis Herrera and District Attorney Kamala D. Harris have issued a joint statement to accompany the City's release of documents pertaining to the San Francisco's participation in the U.S. Department of Justice's Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative.
City Attorney Herrera and CHAKO have announced a settlement of the last remaining claim challenging the validity of a City ordinance requiring pit bull owners to spay or neuter their pets. The agreement will accommodate certain pet owners with disabilities (June 3, 2008) 
The City Attorney's Office has denied claims against the City by two brothers involved in a Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo. The claimants have been referred to the S.F. Zoological Society and its insurer, which also insures the City, pursuant to the terms of its 1993 Lease and Management Agreement.
After working for months with legal officials in several Bay Area cities to monitor the California Department of Food and Agriculture's plans to pursue aerial spraying to eradicate the light brown apple moth, City Attorney Herrera responded to the CDFA's announcement to halt the spray.
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City Attorney Herrera today announced his intention to file a brief with the trial court that will consider a legal action threatened by marriage equality foes over the wording of the title and summary of Proposition 8, an initiative constitutional amendment that would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
The City Attorney's Office has worked for nearly three years defending the City's Bicycle Plan from legal challenges. With an injunction in place since June 2006, the City was ordered in Nov. 2006 to complete and consider environmental review before the plan can move forward.
City Attorney Herrera vowed an aggressive defense to a lawsuit by California Restaurant Association challenging the validity of San Francisco's menu labeling ordinance, which requires certain chain restaurants to disclose on their menus the amount of calories, saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium for each listed item.
City Attorney Herrera has filed suit against ExxonMobil for its defiant refusal to address environmental damage caused by decades of disposal and release of hazardous petroleum products on property owned by the Port of San Francisco in the City’s Fisherman’s Wharf area.
The cover story of BusinessWeek's June 16, 2008 issue features City Attorney Herrera's litigation against the National Arbitration Forum.
In a decision that City Attorney Herrera said "affirmed our Constitution's promise of equality for millions of Californians and their families," the California Supreme Court has invalidated state marriage laws that discriminate against lesbian and gay partners. Herrera, who filed the City's constitutional challenge in March 2004, continues to fight efforts by anti-gay interests to delay the ruling from taking effect.
City Attorney Herrera and the San Francisco Health Plan, the City-sponsored program that provides health insurance to more than 50,000 low-income San Franciscans, today filed suit against McKesson Corp. for illegally conspiring to manipulate pharmaceutical drug prices beginning as far back as 2001.
City Attorney Herrera is leading the appeal of a key aspect of the City's groundbreaking "Healthy San Francisco" program before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. A three judge panel heared arguments on the case in Pasadena, Calif. on April 17, 2008. A ruling is forthcoming.
An agreement among the City Attorney's Office, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area has established an administrative process by which individuals named in civil gang injunctions may petition to "opt out" from the court ordered provisions in a manner that "is fair, transparent, accessible, and recognizes that individuals can and do change for the better."
Gang Injunction Cases
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Welcome to our online law office. San Francisco has long been at the forefront of legal efforts to protect consumers, defend the integrity of our public institutions and advance civil rights for every American. I'm proud to continue that tradition as City Attorney, and my office remains committed to providing our City with the best legal representation. It's my pleasure to offer this Web site as a means to make my office more open and accessible to the people it serves. Thanks for visiting.
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So You Want to be a Law School Intern...Volunteer, clinical and work-study internships in the San Francisco City Attorney's Office are available year-round to 1st, 2nd and 3rd year law students. Learn how to apply here and see upcoming application deadlines. Also, be sure to read ourIntern Program FAQs. |
So You Want to Request a Public Record...The Office of the City Attorney provides information resources to those requesting public records in San Francisco, including our FAQ page entited, "Access to Public Records in San Francisco." Also, visit the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force Web site. |
So You Want to Perform Legal Services...The City Attorney has issued an RFP seeking experienced firms to perform court reporting services. To learn more about this and other opportunities to do business with the City, click here. |
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