Paula J

San Francisco City Attorney's Office

Led by City Attorney David Chiu, who was appointed City Attorney in November 2021, the San Francisco City Attorney's Office has been honored by the American Bar Association for "outstanding excellence in government law over a lifetime of achievement,"​ and praised by American Lawyer magazine as "one of the most aggressive and talented city law departments in the nation."​ The office's mission is to provide the highest quality legal services to the elected officials and nearly 100 departments, boards and commissions that comprise the City and County of San Francisco's combined local government. The City Attorney's responsibilities include: representing the City and County in all legal proceedings; providing advice and written opinions to officers, department heads and other units of local government; making recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for or against the settlement or dismissal of legal proceedings; approving as to form all surety bonds, contracts and ordinances; and investigating, evaluating and recommending disposition of all claims made against the City and County. State law additionally empowers San Francisco's City Attorney to pursue civil causes of action on behalf of the People of the State of California to protect consumers and to abate unfair and unlawful business practices. The office has developed one of California's strongest consumer protection practices, ending an array of fraudulent commercial practices and winning millions in compensation for victims of wage theft, payday lending schemes, arbitration fraud, and more. For his office's leadership, the National Association of Consumer Advocates honored Herrera in 2009 as the organization's Consumer Attorney of the Year. The San Francisco City Attorney's Office has also been recognized nationally for its groundbreaking legal efforts over a period of nearly a decade to successfully end discrimination against lesbian and gay couples in California's marriage laws.