hen Ann Ravel took over as interim Santa Clara County counsel in 1998, her bosses didn't think she had what it takes to do the job permanently.
Former County Counsel Steven Woodside had agreed to leave after a string of high-profile losses in court. And supervisors say litigation losses were just the tip of Santa Clara's legal woes: The county's contracts were in disarray and the county and the city of San Jose were warring over a redevelopment plan.
Then chief assistant, Ravel was tapped as interim to hold the fort while the supervisors searched for a replacement.
"When we first selected her, I was not one of her favorite people," said Supervisor Donald Gage. "She was part of the staff and there were a lot of problems going on out there. I wanted to make sure she was going to do the job and not business as usual."
After a six-month trial period during which Ravel's work was closely scrutinized by the board, she got the job.
Five years later, Ravel's still around and county leaders are openly cheering her aggressive approach to litigation, her responsive management style and her push to initiate controversial affirmative litigation, including signing onto energy suits and taking on lead paint manufacturers.
She also has grown the office to 140 positions, including 67 attorneys, up from 95 positions with 43 attorneys in 1998. Her annual budget has more than tripled, going from $1.4 million to $4.6 million, while annual outside counsel costs have remained steady at $2.3 million.
Ravel's transformation of the office -- both in terms of its internal structure and what she calls her "full-court press" approach to legal matters -- has drawn attention from around the state.
Ravel, 53, recently became the first government attorney named to the California Judicial Council. She's also been tapped to temporarily fill a seat on the State Bar's Board of Governors. Her affirmative litigation work to protect financial assets of seniors is being recognized by the American Bar Association, and her newest proposal, to require pro bono work of outside counsel, has attracted statewide interest.
"It's been a dramatic change," said Santa Clara County Supervisor Peter McHugh. "She has been very proactive."
"I consider myself an activist," said Ravel.
But county counsel of Santa Clara may just be a stepping stone for Ravel's ambitions. She has applied for an open seat on the seven-justice Sixth District Court of Appeal. She admits that it's unorthodox to leapfrog the trial courts but says her experience running a public law firm means she has what it takes.
Ravel's Roots
Ravel says her zeal for public interest work is rooted in her upbringing. "My parents were always very involved in community issues," she said. "You shouldn't just consider your life a private life."
To look at Ravel's work history, it's not surprising county supervisors initially viewed her as an insider, which given the office's troubles at the time wasn't a good thing.
Ravel started at the county counsel's office in 1977, three years after graduating from Hastings College of Law.
She had clerked for the Santa Clara County Superior Court and worked as an associate for the former Morgan, Beauzay, Hammer, Ezgar, Bledsoe & Rucka. The first case she tried went all the way to the California Supreme Court; 1979's Robins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center, 23 Cal.3d 899, extended free speech to individuals in privately owned shopping malls.
Ravel's roots in public service and her firm's ultimate success in Pruneyard prompted her move from the private sector to public practice at the then 20-attorney county counsel's office.
"For me it was the desire to do more pure law," Ravel said.
Ravel had been in the office six years when then-County Counsel Selby Brown Jr. retired. She was appointed interim county counsel while others in the office battled for the position.
Donald Clark, a long-time deputy county counsel, got the job. Ravel thinks her age -- she was only 34 at the time -- and the fact she was pregnant weighed against her getting the permanent job.
"It never, ever crossed their minds I could have the required experience and ability to do the job," Ravel said.
Ravel vowed not to let the same opportunity slip through her fingers again.
Clark was appointed to the bench in 1989, and his chief assistant, Woodside, was named county counsel. Woodside left in 1998, later becoming Sonoma County counsel, and Ravel was again tapped as interim county counsel. This time around, she was the only lawyer in the office who wanted the job. The county law firm had myriad problems.
"We were having horrendous losses," Gage said. "A lot of it came from the fact that homework wasn't being done. We weren't doing it right."
The federal courts had rejected the county's defense of a highly publicized ban on gun sales at the county fairgrounds. The county had also lost a string of suits involving the jail, including paying out a $700,000 damages award to a jail guard who said he had been pressured for his union activities.
Litigation was also causing divisions inside the office. Woodside, who did not return a phone call for this story, had sided with the board of supervisors against his deputies, who along with deputy district attorneys and public defenders wanted to sue the county for higher pay under the county's prevailing wage statute. The California Supreme Court eventually sided with the deputies, which cost the county $18 million in increased salaries.
Even after Ravel's six-month trial as county counsel, the office still had problems. On the night supervisors voted to hire Ravel permanently, making her the first woman to hold the top job, the board had to delay signing $17.5 million in service contracts because they did not contain standard indemnity clauses.
"No one was crazy enough to want the job," said Assistant County Counsel Susan Levenberg. "We were under a lot of criticism at the time. Ann really stepped up to the plate, took control and started making changes."
Ravel's first priority was to improve relations with the Board of Supervisors. She started out by making herself more accessible -- she carried a cell phone and a pager so supervisors could reach her at all hours.
Ravel also made a point of giving supervisors assessments and options on litigation.
"We've lost some cases but there's no surprises," said County Executive Richard Wittenberg.
Ravel has also set up a policy to ensure her office reviews all county contracts. She has also worked to put a more professional face on the office, deputies say, publishing a manual that outlines everything from how to interpret new board policies to how to format documents.
"Government law offices have a reputation of the lawyers doing whatever they want to do instead of focusing on who the client is and how to achieve the client's goals," said Assistant County Counsel Debra Cauble. "She actively finds out what the client's needs are and addresses those in a creative way."
Affirmative Litigaton
Ravel's improved relations with the board have paid off. Supervisors answered Ravel's call for more money and staff to handle some of the county's daily business -- including contract and defense work. But supervisors also have been receptive to Ravel's idea that the county follow in the steps of former San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne and try out the plaintiffs seat. The board has funded two attorney positions to handle plaintiffs litigation.
"Public entities were missing out on opportunities," Deputy County Counsel Kathryn Berry said. "It's gutsy and it is risky, but if you don't take any risk, you never realize any result."
Ravel has sued lead paint makers in hopes of recouping money to help clean up lead paint used until the 1950s and to treat children who suffer from the effects of lead poisoning. The county has partnered with Cotchett Pitre Simon & McCarthy on the litigation. The Burlingame-based firm will collect 17 percent of any settlement or judgment. The suit is now in the discovery phase.
Santa Clara also signed onto a suit filed in San Diego in hopes of recovering from energy companies what cities and counties allege were overpayments for electricity during the 2001 energy crisis. In that suit, Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach is acting as lead counsel and will take 15 percent of any settlement or damages award.
"She has had some very aggressive litigation in areas where the board has felt it's appropriate," County Executive Wittenberg said.
But so far neither the ratepayer suit nor the lead suit have plumped county coffers, and some are critical of Ravel's choices. Representatives for the paint industry are quick to point out that similar suits across the United States have not been successful.
"I think she is to be commended for bringing affirmative actions to correct what she believes are social problems," said James McManis, with San Jose's McManis Faulkner & Morgan, who represents one of the defendants in the paint suit. "She just happens to be wrong on this case. There is going to be a big loss."
But Ravel does have some successes under her belt. The county punched back at the city of San Jose over redevelopment funds and threatened to sue over lost tax revenue. The parties were able to reach an agreement that will provide the county $225 million during the next 15 years.
Ravel also has initiated less visible projects. By filing civil suits, the county has recovered $90 million in assets taken from senior citizens scammed by family members or caretakers. The American Bar Association is recognizing the county's senior financial fraud program as the most innovative government advocacy program in the country this year.
Ravel is also initiating a crackdown on immigration consultants, who by law can only help fill out paperwork, but often scam clients out of thousands of dollars with promises that they can increase their odds of obtaining residency.
"We are looking into areas were can do more impact litigation," said Deputy County Counsel Kathryn Zoglin, who along with deputy Lisa Herrick is handling Santa Clara's affirmative litigation.
Deputy county counsel are also using the federal whistle-blower's statute to go after contractors who are falsely billing the county for goods and services.
Ravel is also introducing a policy that would require outside counsel to complete 30 hours a year of pro bono work as part of their contract with the county. The policy is still being drafted, but supervisors have expressed their approval. Ravel said the program will help increase the amount and quality of indigent defense.
Regrouping Inhouse
Inside the office, Ravel reorganized staff, eliminating her old position as chief assistant. Instead, Ravel appointed four assistants with equal power to oversee departments in the office.
"It became clear to me I need a huge amount of teamwork in the office in order to make massive changes," she said. "I didn't want there to be any disgruntlement that one was chosen."
Three of the four assistants -- Levenberg, William Anderson and James Rumble -- were longtime staffers. Ravel hired Cauble to fill the fourth seat and Laurie Faulkner replaced Rumble when he became general counsel for superior court.
She evaluated the skill sets of all deputies and regrouped them according to practice areas.
"There were a lot of people who had their own areas of expertise. They were like solo practitioners," said Berry. "That's simply not possible anymore. If any person leaves, there is not that big gap anymore."
"We needed folks that were good trial attorneys," Gage added. "She's done a good job hiring."
That's helped the office in its nuts-and-bolts work defending the county.
It prevailed in a suit filed by a deputy sheriff who claimed he was wrongfully fired because of his ethnicity and because he ran against incumbent Sheriff Laurie Smith.
The office also successfully defended the county against IBM's claim that it was owed $11 million in taxes because its property in Santa Clara had been assessed incorrectly.
Still, there have been losses. A federal judge, and later the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, ordered the county to pay $4.5 million in overtime to nurses and midlevel managers whom the county argued were salaried. In April, the county also agreed to a $3.5 million settlement with the family of a 14-year-old who hanged himself in Santa Clara's jail.
Berry said that Ravel is always thinking about the best way to solve problems and approach issues. To boost team morale, Ravel asked the county to install a fountain in the center of the office to create a town square-style meeting place. County services wasn't crazy about the idea and the fountain wasn't built, but Berry said it's an example of how Ravel is constantly thinking of ways to improve and challenge protocol if she thinks it will be beneficial.
Berry said Ravel's attitude is: "Why not?
"She is always looking for the next good idea and the next trend."
