City Attorney’s Office’s efforts to protect San Francisco’s working poor and middle class families ‘have never been more important than they are today,’ says Herrera
SAN FRANCISCO (Jan. 8, 2014) — City Attorney Dennis Herrera was sworn in to a new term as San Francisco’s chief civil lawyer this morning, with Chief Assistant City Attorney Jesse Capin Smith administering the oath of office at the office’s standing senior staff meeting.
Herrera voiced familiar themes in taking the reins of his new term, expressing gratitude to his award-winning staff of nearly 300 legal professionals for their professionalism and nationally-recognized accomplishments. Noting that his office has long been at the forefront of legal efforts to protect consumers, neighborhoods, civil rights and the environment, Herrera credited the entire City Attorney’s Office for one of his office’s best-known recent legal victories — extending equal marriage rights to lesbian and gay couples in California — which saw a decisive victory in the U.S. Supreme Court last summer after nearly ten years of litigation.
But looking ahead, Herrera sees his office’s work for San Francisco’s middle class and working families are especially important in the coming years.
“So much of the unheralded work our office does is about protecting San Francisco’s working poor and middle class families, and those efforts have never been more important than they are today,” said Herrera. “The cases we pursue involving wage theft and universal healthcare, protecting tenants and immigrants, consumers and low-income borrowers, fighting for City College’s future and more — they’re about defending San Franciscans who are being squeezed like never before. It’s where our heart has always been as an office, and as we head into a new term, I intend for us to redouble our efforts to fight for those facing new and daunting economic challenges.”
Related Documents:
PDF of Herrera’s 2014 swearing-in press release (Jan. 8, 2014)