I graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law with a JD and a master’s degree in Alternative Dispute Resolution. As a magna cum laude graduate from the University of San Francisco with a bachelor’s degree in English with a writing emphasis. I am writing to express my strong interest in the position of Deputy City Attorney at the City of Sunnyvale. I have dedicated my career to public service, and would like to continue doing so. Moreover, I have previously worked as a Legal Analyst within the City of San José’s Office of the City Attorney and have much public service experience, and currently work at the City and County of San Francisco’s Contract Monitoring Division.

As a Legal Analyst in the San Jose Office of the City Attorney, I reviewed, edited, and drafted resolutions, contracts, leases, public bid and construction documents, policies and other legal documents and instruments. I very much appreciated this position and learned all that I could as a Legal Analyst. After this work, I became a Staff Attorney for Aridis Pharmaceuticals, a small pharmaceutical company, where I reviewed contracts such as NDAs and Clinical Trial Agreements. After missing my work in public service, I moved back into government work.

At present, I work as a Contracts Compliance Officer in the Contracts Monitoring Division (“CMD”) for the City and County of San Francisco, where I facilitate compliance for business entities working on construction or professional services projects with the City and County of San Francisco. CMD is part of the public bidding process and I routinely analyze complex forms and ordinances to ensure compliance with CMD’s Chapter 14B Ordinance and Rules and Regulations. In addition to analyzing intricate bid specifications or RFPs, this work involves presenting at several meetings on a weekly basis, where I explain the complexities of Chapter 14B to business representatives. I additionally am in a position to field public complaints and work to solve them. In addition to my experience in compliance, this skill will allow me to work collaboratively with other City departments. Now that I have gained enough legal experience, I hope to “come home” back to the City Attorney’s Office.

As an intern for UNOMS, the UN Ombudsman and Mediation Services Office, I developed my ability to work under time pressure, in a high-tempo environment and consistently demonstrated professionalism, diplomacy and patience in interactions with senior managers because I frequently met with Assistant Secretary Generals, Directors, and Professionals. As a result, I have excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills and am able to interpret and apply legislative instruments, develop and present results, recommendations, and opinions clearly and concisely, draft legal papers and work under pressure, and apply good legal judgment in the context of assignments given.

My strong research and writing skills will also be useful to synthesize information and draft clearly, succinctly and quickly. While an undergraduate at the University of San Francisco, I pursued a demanding course of study that emphasized logic, reasoning, and written communication. I continued to apply my research and writing skills as Executive Editor on Pepperdine’s Dispute Resolution Law Journal. My commitment to improving public policies, and my strong work ethic will enable me to add real value. I thank you for your time and consideration. I hope to hear from you soon.