History of the Office of County Counsel

The Office of the Los Angeles County Counsel was established pursuant to the County Charter and State Constitution in 1913. The County Counsel is an appointed County officer whose duties include providing legal advice and representation to the Board of Supervisors, County officers, County departments and various other public agencies in civil matters.

Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the nation with a population exceeded by only eight states. As the population of the County has grown and as the scope of County government has expanded over the years, the Office of County Counsel has kept pace - growing from a staff of 38 attorneys in 1963 to approximately 270 attorneys and a support staff of approximately 200 today.

Since the inception of the Office in 1913, there have been ten County Counsels:

	Raymond G. Fortner, Jr.	2004-present
	Lloyd W. Pellman	1998-2004
	DeWitt W. Clinton	1983-1998
	John H. Larson	1973-1983
	John D. Maharg	1967-1973
	Harold W. Kennedy	1945-1967
	J.H. O'Connor	1938-1945
	Everett W. Mattoon	1926-1938
	Edward T. Bishop	1923-1926
	A.J. Hill	1913-1923

The Office has consistently enjoyed the reputation of being one of the finest public law offices in the country. Its alumni include judges, legal scholars and authors, as well as business and political leaders. Office alumni include former California Governor, Attorney General and Assemblyman George Deukmejian, retired Signal Oil President and Chairman Forrest N. Shumway, former U.S. Secretary of the Army and State Assemblyman Louis Caldera, former Fair Political Practices Commission Chairman John H. Larson, and Professor Arvo Van Alstyn, the principal author of the California Government Tort Claims Act.