The mission of the City Attorney's Office is to provide quality legal advice, guidance and representation to the City Council, the City's 13 departments, and to certain other city boards in an effort to protect the City and reduce the City's exposure to lawsuits.

In addition to providing legal advice on a variety of issues, especially those affecting liability, the City Attorney's Office drafts ordinances, resolutions, agreements, and other legal documents for the City. Moreover, a major function of the City Attorney's Office is to review all documents, agenda items and other legislation to be considered by the City Council to ensure the documents are legally sound.

The City Attorney provides legal representation to the City in Administrative, County, and Circuit court cases. When necessary, the City retains outside attorneys and/or law firms to provide specialized representation to the City. The City Attorney is responsible for monitoring these outside attorneys and firms, which includes providing direction on pre-litigation and litigation matters. The City Attorney works very closely with the City's Risk Manager to assist with worker's compensation claims and other property related matters that must be adjusted with insurance carriers.

Although the City Attorney's Office does not provide direct representation to the public at-large, it indirectly assists the public with issues by working closely with all City departments to address the public's needs.

The City Attorney is not legal counsel to the general public and may not advise individual citizens.

Helpful Links

Palm Beach County Links

• Palm Beach County Legal Aid Society
• Palm Beach County Bar Association
• Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts & Comptroller 
• Palm Beach County League of Cities
• Palm Beach County Public Defender's Office 
• Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office

State of Florida Links

• Florida Municode
• Florida Commission on Ethics
• Florida Attorney General's Office

U.S Supreme Court Cases

• Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida