Has anyone worked there or know anyone that has?
I noticed that there are a few positions open that I'd like to apply to. Has anyone interviewed with them and what sort of questions did they ask (e.g. do they do crim law hypotheticals like DA's offices do?).
Los Angeles City Attorney's Office Forum
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Re: Los Angeles City Attorney's Office
Disclosure: I did not interview with this particular office but did interviews all over CA with various city attorney offices and now work for a large NorCal city attorney. Used to work for county counsel, city attorney and a municipal law firm.
As with any other interview, know your resume really well and be prepared to talk about why you're interested in public service and municipal law. Ties to the area will help, i.e. show that you like working at a place where the matters handled will affect/protect your community's interests.
They do ask hypothetical questions, but most likely not criminal law ones unless you're interviewing with the code enforcement division or city prosecutor position, then maybe crim hypos and also hypos on how you would handle a violation of the municipal code. I try to avoid those positions, but the one time I happened to apply, I was asked to respond to a hypothetical code enforcement citation situation and respond how I would handle it internally, with the property owner, and what judicial remedies are available.
Common hypo topics:
- Public Records Act
This is about records disclosure. For example, council member wants to withhold a document from a records request; is the document disclosable and can it be properly withheld? If you think it's disclosable but your supervisor disagrees, what do you do? A public records request asks for documents between staff and the city attorney's office, what is the proper response? etc.
- Brown Act
This is about open meeting/transparency, most commonly asked are council member or planning commission member's conducts at meetings. For example, if a member of the public brings up an issue not agendized for the meeting, can the council listen to them and take action? If a member of the public is disruptive at a council meeting can they be asked to leave? City council needs to hold emergency meeting, do they have to post an agenda in advance? Council members email each other about an issue that's on the next council meeting's agenda and discusses it, can they do that? etc.
- Ethics
This often involves gifts and whether employees and officials can take stuff from other people. Say council member goes to a birthday party and gets $200 wine, can they accept? Can staff be reimbursed for travel by a third party? I would suggest look over the FPPC rules if you're not already familiar.
- Constitutional/First Amendment issue
Self explanatory, possible question topics include whether someone can be prevented from speaking at a council meeting, whether someone can protest at city hall, can council members block someone on social media, can council start a council meeting with a prayer, etc.
-Police related
The questions I've encountered deal more with records request for body camera, personnel files, etc. It used to be the case that the Pitchess process govern all personnel files but recently the law changed with SB 1421. So you may or may not get those hypos.
-Miscellaneous
Another popular scenario is when one councilmember asks the city attorney for advice but request it be kept confidential from other councilmembers. This is about who the client is- the City, not individual councilmembers.
It was helpful for me to look over various guides from the CA League of Cities to prepare. Don't worry about becoming an expert in these areas (because no one is!) but it will help you to structure your answer if asked those hypos. Most important thing is still focusing on how to convey your experiences and skills will be helpful to their office and practice, and express your dedication for public services and public law.
Hope this helps.
As with any other interview, know your resume really well and be prepared to talk about why you're interested in public service and municipal law. Ties to the area will help, i.e. show that you like working at a place where the matters handled will affect/protect your community's interests.
They do ask hypothetical questions, but most likely not criminal law ones unless you're interviewing with the code enforcement division or city prosecutor position, then maybe crim hypos and also hypos on how you would handle a violation of the municipal code. I try to avoid those positions, but the one time I happened to apply, I was asked to respond to a hypothetical code enforcement citation situation and respond how I would handle it internally, with the property owner, and what judicial remedies are available.
Common hypo topics:
- Public Records Act
This is about records disclosure. For example, council member wants to withhold a document from a records request; is the document disclosable and can it be properly withheld? If you think it's disclosable but your supervisor disagrees, what do you do? A public records request asks for documents between staff and the city attorney's office, what is the proper response? etc.
- Brown Act
This is about open meeting/transparency, most commonly asked are council member or planning commission member's conducts at meetings. For example, if a member of the public brings up an issue not agendized for the meeting, can the council listen to them and take action? If a member of the public is disruptive at a council meeting can they be asked to leave? City council needs to hold emergency meeting, do they have to post an agenda in advance? Council members email each other about an issue that's on the next council meeting's agenda and discusses it, can they do that? etc.
- Ethics
This often involves gifts and whether employees and officials can take stuff from other people. Say council member goes to a birthday party and gets $200 wine, can they accept? Can staff be reimbursed for travel by a third party? I would suggest look over the FPPC rules if you're not already familiar.
- Constitutional/First Amendment issue
Self explanatory, possible question topics include whether someone can be prevented from speaking at a council meeting, whether someone can protest at city hall, can council members block someone on social media, can council start a council meeting with a prayer, etc.
-Police related
The questions I've encountered deal more with records request for body camera, personnel files, etc. It used to be the case that the Pitchess process govern all personnel files but recently the law changed with SB 1421. So you may or may not get those hypos.
-Miscellaneous
Another popular scenario is when one councilmember asks the city attorney for advice but request it be kept confidential from other councilmembers. This is about who the client is- the City, not individual councilmembers.
It was helpful for me to look over various guides from the CA League of Cities to prepare. Don't worry about becoming an expert in these areas (because no one is!) but it will help you to structure your answer if asked those hypos. Most important thing is still focusing on how to convey your experiences and skills will be helpful to their office and practice, and express your dedication for public services and public law.
Hope this helps.
