SANTA MONICA—The Santa Monica City Council announced on Tuesday, June 27 that Lane Dilg has been selected as the new City Attorney. City Council conducted a nationwide search for the key position after long-time city attorney Marsha Moutrie retired in December 2016 after 22 years of service.
“It is an incredible privilege to serve the people of Santa Monica as City Attorney,” said Dilg. “I am grateful to the City Council for the opportunity, and I look forward to working with the talented attorneys of the City Attorney’s Office to serve my home community.”
According to a press release from the city of Santa Monica, Joseph Lawrence has been serving as interim City Attorney for the past 6 months and shared, “I wholeheartedly congratulate and welcome Lane. Lane should be a superb City Attorney for Santa Monica. Her impressive credentials and career are a perfect fit for this highly accomplished City Attorney’s Office. Under Lane’s leadership, the City’s legal fortunes should be in very good hands.”
Lane Dilg comes to Santa Monica with a distinguished career in public service. She is currently Senior Counsel to UCLA, where she provides legal advice across the broad range of the University’s teaching, research and public service activities, in substantive areas ranging from constitutional and employment law to health, business and real estate law.
Before working at UCLA, Dilg spent four years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Central District Office in California, where she prosecuted public corruption, organized crime, human trafficking, fraud and other federal criminal offenses.
She served as Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, where she was a trusted legal advisor to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein in confirmation hearings for United States Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and during consideration of the Affordable Care Act. Her experience includes time as a civil litigator at the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and Susman Godfrey, LLP. She served in 2016 as a member of U.S. Senator Kamala Harris’ transition team upon Senator Harris’ election to the United States Senate. She is currently an Appellate Lawyer Representative to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“Santa Monica is a complex, cutting-edge city. We’re known for pushing the envelope in our policy decisions and protecting our community’s diverse interests,” said Mayor Ted Winterer. “Given the complex legal issues we face on a regular basis, we were looking for a dynamic, strategic and thoughtful person to serve as our next City Attorney. Ms. Dilg brings a wealth of legal experience and a formidable intellect to the job and she’s passionate about public service and the issues that align with our city’s vision. I speak for the entire Council when I say that we are thrilled to be working with Lane for years to come.”
Dilg received her Bachelors of Arts Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Masters of Theological Study from Harvard Divinity School and her JD from Yale Law School. She is a resident of Santa Monica and is committed to making a long-term contribution to the City’s continued evolution as a model of municipality.
Her new role will involve her being the chief legal advisor to the City Council, City Manager and City Departments. She will be responsible for a team of 24 attorneys and 18 support staff in the areas of civil litigation, code enforcement and criminal prosecution. She will begin her new position on August 14, with a starting salary of $283,872.
