Career Opportunity

Deputy City Attorney, Business/Tax Litigator - Tax Team - City Attorney's Office (8177)

Recruitment: RTF0148137-01112809

Published: October 29, 2024

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal Learn More

About:

Permanent Exempt: Permanent exempt (PEX) 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: June 20, 2024
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close on November 30, 2024, at 5pm
• Compensation Range: $147,914- $259,142
• Recruitment ID: RTF0148137-01112809

NOTE: If you have already applied for this position, you are still in the applicant pool and there is no need to reapply.

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for a qualified and motivated litigator to join its office. The litigator would work with subject matter experts on the office's Tax Team to litigate tax disputes.

About the Office: The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office (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 over 300 talented, dedicated, and diverse employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers the City’s public servants 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, ideas, and lived 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 for their full authentic selves, 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 click here.

The Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/

Role description

About the Position

This position would work with tax advice attorneys on the City's Tax Team to defend the City in tax suits filed by taxpayers, including high-value cases and cases of first impression. The position would involve significant law and motion practice, bench trials, and all levels of appellate review.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California

Desired Qualifications

• Five or ideally more years of civil litigation experience.
• Knowledge of or background in state and local tax law, including gross receipts taxes, transfer taxes, property taxes, and others, or an interest in such subject matters. Cases are frequently business-related, so an understanding of business transactions and organizational structures would also be useful.
• Ability to assume responsibility quickly, work both independently and collaboratively, and identify and assess substantive and procedural legal issues.
• Ability to work effectively and efficiently, meet multiple competing deadlines, manage workload changes, and dive into new assignments quickly.
• Excellent written and oral communication and advocacy skills.
• Ability to manage, investigate, and litigate multiple matters.
• Ability to handle all phases of litigation, including written discovery, depositions, motion practice, settlement negotiations, non-jury trials, and appeals.
• Experience handling court appearances and oral argument.
• Familiarity with state rules of civil procedure and San Francisco local rules.  
• Experience with e-discovery.
• Demonstrated interest, comfort, and good working knowledge of sophisticated document review tools.
• Ability to work effectively with paralegals, legal assistants, investigators, and other colleagues.
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment, adapt to changes, and be curious.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• Interest and ability to work successfully as part of a team.

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.

The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

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 next stage of the selection process. To apply for this position, please submit your resume and cover letter. Applicants who advance in the selection process must submit three references and two writing samples.

What else should I know?

Salary and Benefits

The Deputy City Attorney position has a 16-step salary scale ranging from $147,914 - $259,142.  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.  

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
• Veterans Preference
• 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
• Upload a Cover Letter and Resume

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, @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 Jacob Mast jacob.mast@sfcityatty.org.

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.