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Office of the County Counsel
Office of the County Counsel

International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) awards

Each year, the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) honors attorneys in their service to local governments and communities. These awards recognize the attorneys’ passion, dedication, and above all, their commitment to rise beyond the call of duty.   

In 2022, the attorneys on our team who earned distinctions from the IMLA were: 

 

Lead Deputy Melissa Kiniyalocts received the Brad D. Bailey Assistant City/County Attorney Award 

women dressed in black holding award

This award recognizes an attorney who has demonstrated a commitment to the practice of public law, routinely uses innovative or creative problem-solving, and has a record of exceptional accomplishments in the practice of public law.   

Ms. Kiniyalocts has a long history of significant and durable contributions to local government jurisprudence.  

As one example, in DiCampli-Mintz v. County of Santa Clara, 289 P.3d 884 (Cal. 2012), Ms. Kiniyalocts successfully petitioned the California Supreme Court for review, coordinated amicus brief assistance through the California State Association of Counties and the League of Cities, and effectively handled oral argument.  The California Supreme Court unanimously ruled in agreement with Ms. Kiniyalocts’ arguments that, to protect local governments’ sovereign immunity and ensure they have adequate notice of allegations against them, any plaintiff suing a public entity in state court must strictly comply with the procedural claim presentation requirements of with the California Government Claims Act statute.   

 

Former County Counsel James R. Williams received the Daniel J. Curtin, Jr. Young Public Lawyer Award

man wearing suit holding award

This award recognizes a lawyer who is 40 or younger who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in representing local government.   

James Williams’s career—dedicated to local government service from its very start—has been defined by extraordinary professional achievements. In his first year of practice, he delivered oral argument before the California Supreme Court in what would become one of the most consequential taxation cases in California history. This resulted in the dissolution of the state’s redevelopment agencies and the return of billions of dollars each year to local schools and county safety net services.  See California Redevelopment Ass’n v. Matosantos, 267 P.3d 580 (Cal. 2011).   

At the age of 32, Mr. Williams was appointed as the County Counsel for the County of Santa Clara, California’s sixth-largest county. Shortly after, he led a nationally significant litigation through which the County successfully obtained a permanent injunction barring the Trump Administration from enforcing an unconstitutional policy that would have stripped all federal funding from any state or locality that declined to participate in federal immigration enforcement. See City and County of San Francisco, County of Santa Clara v. Donald J. Trump, et al., 897 F.3d 1225 (9th Cir. 2018).   

Most recently, Mr. Williams played a crucial role in building the strong partnership between the Office of the County Counsel, the Public Health Department, County-operated hospitals and clinics, and the County’s Emergency Operations Center as part of the County’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to serving as County Counsel, Mr. Williams was a Director of the County’s Emergency Operations Center.   

For more than two years, Mr. Williams skillfully guided all aspects of the County’s overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in some of the highest testing and vaccination rates in the nation among Santa Clara County residents, leading to one of the lowest death rates among urban counties in the United States.  

 

Our Child and Family Protection Team received the IMLA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award 

In 2022, our Office’s Child and Family Protection Team received the IMLA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award, which recognizes legal work that supports initiatives or programs that promote diversity and inclusion within local government and the community.