Austin (Tex.). Law Department

The City of Austin Law Department’s mission is to provide timely, effective, and affordable legal counsel and representation to the city and its officials. The Law Department is organized into several functional divisions: Litigation, Land Use and Real Estate, Municipal Operations, Employment, Austin Energy and Criminal Prosecution.

The Litigation Division both defends actions against the City of Austin and initiates actions on the City’s behalf. Litigation handles several hundred cases in the civil courts, including those involving civil rights, collections, contracts, eminent domain, and tort (e.g., slip and fall) matters. Litigation has two (2) claims investigators who are responsible for investigating, evaluating and disposing of claims against the City involving property damage and bodily injury. The Land Use and Real Estate Division handles legal issues relating to development and permits, housing, environmental, zoning, water, wastewater, and solid waste issues. These attorneys have special expertise in real estate and regulatory matters. The Municipal Operations Division advises City management regarding City operations. The Division focuses on questions of municipal authority and municipal finance including open meetings and open records, ethics, purchasing, finance, elections and campaign finance, lobbying and lobby registration, citizen health issues, and other unique legal needs of City departments. The Employment Division advises management on day-to-day personnel issues. The attorneys provide counsel on the full spectrum of employment issues, from hiring to discipline and discharge. The employment attorneys also defend the City in administrative proceedings, such as Civil Service hearings, and proceedings before the Texas Commission on Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Law Department has six attorneys and three staff members who are located at Austin Energy. This group handles utility and franchise issues as well as general legal issues for that department. The lawyers in the Criminal Prosecution Division prosecute all Class "C" misdemeanors under state laws and City ordinances. The prosecutors practice solely before the City’s Municipal Court.