Skip to main content

About

Meet Hydee

 

Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto in a white jack and black shirt standing in front of a wall of books. She has a black flower pinned to her jacket.

Hydee Feldstein Soto is the 43rd Los Angeles City Attorney, elected in November 2022 and sworn into office in December 2022. She is the City’s general counsel and serves as legal advisor to the Mayor, City Council, and to the hundreds of boards, departments, officers and entities that make up the City of Los Angeles. 

​The Office of the City Attorney is responsible for providing advice and legal opinions to every officer, department head, board, commission or other unit of the City and preparing and signing off on all contracts and other legal relationships of the City of Los Angeles. The City Attorney interprets federal, state, county and municipal laws for Los Angeles, drafts City ordinances and is responsible for the application, implementation, and enforcement of all laws within the jurisdiction, defending the City and its charter. In addition, the City Attorney approves and documents all transactions to which the City is a party, oversees all litigation and other proceedings in which Los Angeles is involved and is responsible for civil and criminal misdemeanor enforcement actions. As the City’s chief prosecutor, Feldstein Soto oversees the prosecution of misdemeanors and the administration of criminal justice, including alternatives to incarceration. Her team of nearly 1,000 legal professionals, including 500+ attorneys, carries out the City’s legal work at her direction and under her supervision. 

Feldstein Soto was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and moved to the mainland United States to attend Swarthmore College and then Columbia University School of Law. After law school, she moved to Los Angeles and has called Los Angeles home for more than 40 years. Feldstein Soto raised her family and built her career as a partner in private practice at large international law firms, earning wide recognition and acclaim for her leadership, problem solving acumen and legal ability. Feldstein Soto is fully committed to serving Los Angeles and its people in this position. 

 

Media Kit

The Office

 

Mission Statement

The mission of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office is to serve the City by providing the highest caliber legal services, with clarity and consistency, promoting public safety, pursuing justice and equity in the City's criminal justice system, protecting the City's interests and protecting its people and communities from unlawful and unfair practices, and helping the City serve its constituents with integrity, accountability, efficiency and transparency.

 

Branches

Municipal Branch
The City Attorney’s Municipal Branch provides legal guidance to the municipal government, including to the Mayor, City Council and City departments. In addition to drafting and reviewing proposed legislation, it manages a broad range of legal matters, including contracts, labor and employment law, and constitutional law.

Civil Litigation Branch
The City Attorney's Civil Litigation Branch manages the vast majority of claims and lawsuits where the City is a defendant in civil court. These cases can include personal injury, civil rights, employment, challenges to City ordinances and policies, and workers’ compensation.

Criminal Branch
The City Attorney’s Criminal Branch prosecutes criminal misdemeanors and infractions committed within the City limits. Working closely with LAPD and other law enforcement agencies, the 200+ prosecutors in the Criminal Branch prosecute a broad range of criminal offenses including domestic violence, driving under the influence, firearms, environmental, animal cruelty, theft and vandalism.

Real Estate Branch
The City Attorney’s Real Estate Branch, encompassing housing, land use and real property, is responsible for advising elected officials, staff and non-proprietary departments on all matters involving land use, planning, real estate and housing. The Real Estate Branch focuses on all homelessness-related issues, working closely with those responsible for implementing the Mayor's plan to address this crisis via the Inside Safe Initiative and other City-led projects to decrease homelessness.

Public Rights Branch
The City Attorney’s Public Rights Branch brings civil enforcement actions in the name of the People of the State of California pursuant to legal authorities such as California's Unfair Competition Law. The Branch vindicates public rights relating to many areas including unfair or fraudulent business practices, consumer protection, environmental justice, nuisance abatement and intellectual property.

 

Social Media Policy
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office welcomes your comments to our social media channels, which include but are not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. A comment posted by a member of the public is the opinion of the commenter only, and publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the Office of the City Attorney, nor do such comments necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the City Attorney’s Office. Comments containing any of the following shall not be permitted and are subject to removal and/or restriction by the City:

  • Comments not related to the original topic.
  • Obscene content or language.
  • Criminal threats to any person or organization.
  • Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising of any business or product for sale.
  • Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law.
  • Encouragement of illegal activity.
  • Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems.
  • Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright, of any party.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion


The Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney recognizes the importance of acknowledging, facilitating and demonstrating the values of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ("DEI"). As one of the country's largest municipal law offices serving the most diverse City in the nation, we are proud to be leading the charge to implement structural improvements and DEI best practices that reflect change both inside the office and in the City as a whole. 

Our Office understands that facilitating a culture of belonging for all employees creates the best possible workplace where growth and development are encouraged. We lead by attracting and supporting a diverse and inclusive workforce of nearly 1,000 people who provide equitable, innovative legal services that benefit the City, the residents of Los Angeles and the people of the State of California. 

We are committed to harnessing the diversity of our employees — attorneys and legal professionals — to protect communities and serve constituents with integrity, fairness and honesty, ensuring that programs and services are equally available to people of all backgrounds and identities, including people with disabilities. 

To that end, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto created an Equity and Inclusion Division, which, under the supervision of our Equity Officer, serves as general counsel to equity-focused City departments and commissions, including the Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department and the Department on Disability. 

Our Office’s DEI priorities include:

  • Reviewing and strengthening internal practices in our office with respect to recruitment, hiring, and retention;
  • Facilitating ongoing equity-related training and development for all employees;
  • Modeling leadership for municipal law offices in our DEI practices; and 
  • Ensuring access to justice for the communities we serve. 

Another DEI priority includes supporting the work of our six employee affinity groups:

  • Asian Pacific City Attorneys Association 
  • Association of Black City Attorneys
  • City Attorney Jewish Association 
  • City Attorney Women's Association
  • Latino City Attorney Association
  • LGBTQ Pride Association

To connect with a representative from any of the groups, please email cityatty.help@lacity.org.

Gold seal graphic from the California State Bar recognizing the City Attorney's Efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion.

For our commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal field, in July 2024, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office was awarded a Gold Seal by the State Bar of California's DEI Leadership Seal Program. This program recognizes legal employers with California attorneys that commit to and implement research-driven actions that further workplace DEI.