The City Attorney's Office consists of 68 employees, including 21 attorneys. Their duties are set forth in the City's Charter, which provides that the City Attorney shall be the sole and exclusive legal advisor of the City, City Council and all City commissions, committees, officers and employees. It is charged with municipal legal responsibilities as complex as any in the state.

It furnishes the legal support for a full service municipal operation, including departments of police, fire, public works, development services, community development, library, refuse etc.

In the past year the office:

• Instituted numerous nuisance abatement procedures and provided the legal assistance which resulted in the closure of the New Kennedy and Chief motels.
• Received and responded to over 6,500 written requests for legal assistance from various City offices.
• Prepared over 1,400 formal contracts and leases, as well as several thousand opinions and other legal documents.
• Prepared approximately 150 ordinances and 200 resolutions.
• Received and handled over 900 liability claims for money damages and over 850 workers' compensation claims.
• Dispatched liability investigators to the scene of 600 accidents.
• Represented the City, in house, in 800 lawsuits.
• Attended and furnished legal advice and assistance at hundreds of meetings of the approximately 40 boards, commissions and committees of the City.

In addition, on a daily basis, the office provides legal advice and assistance to all of the City's major enterprise activities (many of which are not normally undertaken by municipalities). They include the following departments:

• Port of Long Beach - The nation's busiest container port.
• Oil Properties - The nation's only municipal crude oil production company.
• Airport - In total operations the tenth busiest airport in the nation.
• Gas - One of only three municipal natural gas utilities in California.
• SERRF - The only successful large operating municipal trash-to-energy plant in California, it generates enough energy to fill the needs of 100,000 people per day.
• Water - Complete water and sewer service.
• Tidelands - Includes a major convention and entertainment complex and the largest small boat marina in the United States as well as 5-1/2 miles of beaches and lifeguard services.
• Public Health - One of only three municipal public health departments in California.
• Towing/Storage/lmpound - One of the few municipal towing and storage operations in the state.
• Redevelopment Agency - Implementing an aggressive economic revitalization program.

As the above demonstrates, the City Attorney's Office is responsible for a wide variety of tasks. We are committed to providing a high level of quality legal service. In the event that you have a question regarding any action of the City, please feel free to give us a call at (562) 570-2200.