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San Diego City Attorney's Office Takes Ethics Training

Lawyers with the San Diego city attorney's office got a refresher course in ethics over the weekend. KPBS reporter Katie Orr has more.

San Diego City Attorney's Office Takes Ethics Training

Lawyers with the San Diego city attorney's office got a refresher course in ethics over the weekend. KPBS reporter Katie Orr has more.

The lawyers spent Saturday in an ethics seminar at the University of San Diego. One topic of discussion, exactly who is the client they serve. New City Attorney Jan Goldsmith says there's a clear answer.

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Goldsmith: We are accountable to the public, because, they vote me in, they can vote me out. I must be accountable to them on my, the way I do business, and our attorneys are accountable. But we're hired to represent the city. I've been saying that for a year. I do understand that basic legal principle. It is, it is not unclear, it is very clear.   

Goldsmith says he wanted to emphasize to his staff the legal side of the office, rather than the political side. He says lawyers should always have ethics in the back of their minds. Goldsmith says his office will follow-up the seminar by creating internal policies to implement what his staff learned.

Katie Orr, KPBS News.