Special Counsel for Federal Litigation - Strategic Advocacy Team - City Attorney's Office (8177)

Appointment Type: Temporary Exempt (TEX) 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: February 6, 2026
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Friday, February 20, 2026
• Compensation Range: $155,428-$272,350
• Recruitment ID: RTF0162765-01127724

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for an experienced and motivated attorney to join its Strategic Advocacy Team for a two-year appointment as Special Counsel for Federal Litigation.

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 nearly 350 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, and 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, 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/.

The Office provides a hybrid work schedule for eligible employees.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit our website.

About the Strategic Advocacy Team

The Strategic Advocacy Team is a new team established to respond to complex and novel issues at the intersection of litigation and advice work. Currently the team is exclusively focused on developing, coordinating, and implementing strategies to respond to federal administration actions that threaten the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. In the future, the team may also address other major issues that require significant litigation and legal counsel. The team acts as a force multiplier that allows the Office to leverage internal and external resources to deliver meaningful results on high-priority matters.

Our litigation docket is currently in federal courts across the country and generally involves cases with significant public policy implications, constitutional claims, novel legal issues, and multiple parties. Our advice work typically addresses matters of citywide concern or issues that relate to pending or anticipated litigation. We also handle projects and assignments that extend beyond traditional legal work. No task is too big or too small for this team, and we aspire to be low ego, high energy, creative, collaborative, and nimble.

Special Counsel for Federal Litigation - Position and Responsibilities

The Special Counsel for Federal Litigation will handle both affirmative and defensive matters involving the federal government. These matters typically require working collaboratively with other lawyers and professional staff across the Office, as well as with client departments and co-counsel. The Special Counsel should be prepared to handle all aspects of litigation, including case development and assessment, litigation strategy, discovery, motion practice, oral arguments, and appeals. The Special Counsel will be expected to lead some cases and play a contributing role in others, including mentoring other attorneys.

The Special Counsel may also be assigned to handle special projects and other matters. Attorneys on the Strategic Advocacy Team perform complex legal and factual research; monitor and analyze federal executive, legislative, and regulatory actions; identify litigation trends and propose litigation strategies; and provide written and oral reports to the City Attorney and other City officials. They also coordinate with other attorneys in the Office to provide oral and written advice on a broad range of legal issues, including interpretation of local, state, and federal laws and the legal risks of proposed actions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California

Desired Qualifications

• Ten or more years of complex civil litigation experience
• Ability to identify, develop, and litigate affirmative cases as well as vigorously defend defensive matters
• Ability to assume responsibility quickly, work both collaboratively and independently, and think deeply and thoroughly about novel substantive and procedural legal issues
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, as well as project management skills
• Excellent judgment and risk assessment capabilities, and the ability to gather and distill information and make recommendations quickly and confidently, but also inclusively
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines, produce high-quality work on tight timelines, embrace last-minute assignments, and demonstrate grace under pressure
• Excellent interpersonal skills, a strong interest in working as part of a team, and comfort being in or out of the spotlight
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment

Interested candidates are encouraged to apply even if they do not meet all of the above desired qualifications.

Verification

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the oral/performance interview.

Salary and Benefits

The Special Counsel position has a 16-step salary scale ranging from $155,428 to $272,350. The successful applicant is appointed to a salary step based on years of experience as a lawyer. The City offers robust health, retirement and other benefits. For more information please visit: https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview. Attorneys are represented by the Municipal Attorneys Association. Information about compensation and benefits is available by entering Classification Code 8177 at https://careers.sf.gov/classifications/.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen
• Include your CA Bar Number in the education section on your application
• Upload a Cover Letter and a Resume

Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit three references and a writing sample.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfcityatty.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com.

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Jumy Dang, Sr. HR Analyst, at [email protected].

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.