Published on July 14, 2025
The Alameda City Attorney’s Office has been awarded the 2025 American Bar Association’s (ABA) Hodson Award, a prestigious national recognition presented annually to one government or public-sector law office for outstanding performance and extraordinary service. This award celebrates the Alameda City Attorney’s Office’s unwavering commitment to excellence and its innovative approach to advancing the City Council’s strategic objectives of protecting public safety by justly enforcing state and local laws and preserving affordable housing by preventing unnecessary displacement.
The ABA commended the Office’s urgency and resolve in 2021 to protect 50 families living on floating homes in the Barnhill Marina from imminent housing displacement. When a new landlord sought to increase rents by as much as 178%, putting many tenants at risk of becoming unhoused, the Alameda City Attorney’s Office drafted and vigorously defended an urgency ordinance to extend local rent control protections to maritime residential tenancies. In November 2024, the Alameda County Superior Court ruled fully in favor of the City, imposing more than $335,000 in penalties against the marina owners and issuing a permanent injunction to prevent further harassment of tenants.
The Alameda City Attorney’s Office is responsible for all civil litigations involving the City and provides expert legal counsel to the City, its elected officials, City departments, and various boards and commissions. The Office is driven by a singular goal: to deliver excellent work for the community justly, efficiently, and effectively.
“I am thrilled and deeply honored that the Alameda City Attorney’s Office is being recognized as a nationwide leader in developing innovative legal solutions to some of our community’s greatest challenges. Our attorneys and professional staff demonstrate their commitment to effective public service each and every day, and we are proud to be a model of excellence in public lawyering,” said City Attorney Yibin Shen.
Public Works Department