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City attorney skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted experts
James Tomaszewski,
James Tomaszewski
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical city attorney skills. We ranked the top skills for city attorneys based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 11.0% of city attorney resumes contained litigation as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a city attorney needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 city attorney skills for your resume and career

1. Litigation

Here's how city attorneys use litigation:
  • Handled City Prosecutions in Municipal Court and eminent domain proceedings for City and supervised outside counsel on other litigation matters.
  • Handled diverse general litigation practice in construction defect, product liability, contracts, municipal law and anti-discrimination enforcement.

5. Municipal Law

Here's how city attorneys use municipal law:
  • Tracked and presented developments in municipal law at statewide conferences.
  • Preside over day-to-day operations of municipal law office.

6. District Court

Here's how city attorneys use district court:
  • Prosecuted misdemeanor appeals of City charges in circuit court and all DUI offenses in general district court.
  • Covered weekly arraignment, pretrial, and trial court calendars in district court.

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7. Appeals

Here's how city attorneys use appeals:
  • Prosecuted civil service appeals of disciplined city employees.
  • Represented departments in grievance appeals and arbitration proceedings.

8. Municipal Court

Here's how city attorneys use municipal court:
  • Prosecuted municipal ordinance violations in St. Louis Municipal Court Conducted trials and negotiated plea bargains with defendants and opposing counsel
  • Prosecuted criminal and administrative cases in municipal court.

11. City Ordinances

Here's how city attorneys use city ordinances:
  • Prosecuted city ordinance violations, effectuating enforcement, collection of fines and compliance.
  • Drafted and reviewed City ordinances arising out of capital improvement projects.

12. Bench Trials

Here's how city attorneys use bench trials:
  • Represented the state in dozens of bench trials and was first-chair in over thirty-five DUI and prostitution jury trials.
  • Tried 35 jury trials to verdict & in excess of 100 bench trials until leaving in 1981.

13. City Officials

Here's how city attorneys use city officials:
  • Analyzed and applied California and federal statutory law in relation to City officials and entities.
  • Defended City officials in administrative matters from inception to appeal.

14. Civil Litigation

Civil litigation is a legal process that is followed when a non-criminal legal dispute occurs between two parties. Such a legal process does not involve any criminal charges or penalties. The plaintiffs in such cases only seek compensation for the damages done by the defendants.

Here's how city attorneys use civil litigation:
  • Work on several e-discovery projects for large-scale civil litigation in various areas of law including pharmaceutical, medical device and anti-trust regulations
  • Manage administrative and civil litigation cases related to execution, enforcement and breach of contracts, trademarks and copyright infringements.

15. Administrative Hearings

Administrative hearings are like trial proceedings done before an administrative agency or court judge. They are however shorter than regular trials but the evidence is provided and testimonies entertained just like fair hearings. However, administrative hearings are hearings that involve disputes under government agencies and are more informal in nature. The hearings are characterized by facts obtained and leads to the resolution of cases under the authority of government agencies.

Here's how city attorneys use administrative hearings:
  • Presided over administrative hearings involving violations of the City's ordinances.
  • Lead counsel or sole counsel for City in numerous lawsuits and administrative hearings with a 95 percent successful case resolution rate.
top-skills

What skills help City Attorneys find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on city attorney resumes?

James Tomaszewski

Director of the Center for Professional Development, University of Cincinnati

Demonstrated commitment to a particular practice area, especially experiential learning opportunities such as externships and clinics.

What soft skills should all city attorneys possess?

James Tomaszewski

Director of the Center for Professional Development, University of Cincinnati

Engagement, Resilience, Responsiveness, Respectfulness, Integrity.

What hard/technical skills are most important for city attorneys?

James Tomaszewski

Director of the Center for Professional Development, University of Cincinnati

Excellent writing skills.

What city attorney skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Hanna Royce

Assistant Dean of Career Services, University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law

The key to success is to add new and relevant legal experience to their resume. If graduates are not taking on full-time roles, this could mean completing document review or project work on a contract basis.

List of city attorney skills to add to your resume

City attorney skills

The most important skills for a city attorney resume and required skills for a city attorney to have include:

  • Litigation
  • Legal Research
  • Legal Advice
  • Legal Issues
  • Municipal Law
  • District Court
  • Appeals
  • Municipal Court
  • Legal Opinions
  • Legal Services
  • City Ordinances
  • Bench Trials
  • City Officials
  • Civil Litigation
  • Administrative Hearings
  • Administrative Proceedings
  • Settlement Agreements
  • Subpoenas
  • Risk Management
  • Public Works
  • Code Enforcement
  • Criminal Cases
  • Federal Courts
  • Jury Trials
  • Real Property
  • Employment Law
  • Code Violations
  • Local Government
  • Economic Development
  • FLSA
  • Motion Practice
  • Arbitration
  • Civil Rights
  • Legal Proceedings
  • Real Estate Transactions
  • Eminent Domain
  • Civil Actions
  • Circuit Court
  • Probate
  • Domestic Violence
  • Legal Memoranda
  • State Courts
  • Municipal Ordinances
  • Court Proceedings
  • Employment Issues
  • DUI
  • Collective Bargaining
  • Property Damage
  • Civil Division

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.