City Government

Oakland City Attorney Hires Top Litigator as Special Counsel

Published

11 years ago

April 25, 2014

Oakland City Attorney’s Office has hired senior trial attorney Otis McGee as Special Counsel.

McGee most recently served as a Partner and Senior Trial Attorney at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, LLP. He started work in the City Attorney’s Office this month and is assigned to act as the Chief Assistant City Attorney in charge of litigation for the City of Oakland.

“Mr. McGee’s expertise, skill and leadership will be an extraordinary asset for the City of Oakland,” said City Attorney Barbara Parker. “As a top trial attorney with broad experience in complex areas of law, Otis is a tremendous addition to our legal team as we fight to protect the City’s resources and interests.”

McGee has nearly four decades of legal experience. He attended UC Berkeley Law School after serving as a police officer in Pacifica and as an investigator for the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office.

In 1980, he co-founded the firm Ocampo, Millner & McGee. Following several mergers, the firm became Alexander, Millner & McGee, at one time the largest minority-owned firm in in the country, with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and Philadelphia.

McGee served as Managing Partner throughout the firm’s tenure.

McGee joined Sheppard Mullin as a partner in 1997. His areas of expertise include labor and employment, products liability, environmental and toxics matters and general commercial litigation.

He has substantial jury trial experience, including work for the City of Oakland, and has conducted numerous investigations for both public and private entities. In the products liability and consumer warranty arenas, he has represented manufacturers of automobiles and light trucks, consumer products, industrial equipment, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

McGee is also a trained arbitrator and mediator. He has been selected as a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Litigation Counsel of America.

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

17 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.