New York City's "MWBE" program, enacted by the City Council and signed by the Mayor as Local Law 129 of 2005, is designed to promote government contracting opportunities for businesses owned by minorities and women. Our "Emerging Business Enterprise" program, enacted by the City Council and signed by the Mayor as Local Law 12 of 2006, is designed to promote such opportunities for businesses owned by persons who are "socially and economically disadvantaged." Together, the programs establish the following Citywide goals for contracts and subcontracts in amounts under $1 million.

Early in his tenure at the Law Department, Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo initiated the Public Service Program - a private/public partnership with the City's prominent law firms, where firms either lend their attorneys to the Law Department for a finite period of time or agree to take on City cases in-house. The Program benefits both the City and the law firms. The City receives the assistance of an incredibly well-trained and talented group of attorneys while the attorneys receive the kind of hands-on, in-court litigation experience that is often hard to come by at the best private law firms. While participation in the Program will not lead to offers of permanent employment at the Law Department, it will enable the volunteers to keep their skills fresh while serving the public.
Trial Attorney Volunteers: A number of firms lend mid-level litigation associates to the Law Department for a period of four to six months to work full-time in our Tort Division trial units. These attorneys conduct back-to-back civil trials, selecting juries, examining and cross-examining witnesses and presenting opening statements and closing arguments.
Law Firm Volunteers: Other firms have chosen to take entire matters in-house, giving their attorneys the chance to participate in court conferences, settlement negotiations, depositions, and, ultimately, trials.
Deposition Program: Firms also lend associates to the Law Department either to conduct a series of depositions in an individual case or to spend two to three weeks in our offices conducting back-to-back depositions in a variety of cases.

The Council has numerous standing committees that practice oversight of New York City functions, including human services, infrastructure, and government affairs. Each committee is headed by a Council Member (the Chair), includes at least five members, and meets at least once a month. In addition, the Council has several subcommittees, which are convened to review and make recommendations regarding topics of particular interest.

After proposed legislation is heard by its appropriate Committee, it may be voted on and approved at that Committee. If the legislation is passed by Committee, is then sent to be considered by the whole Council. Council Members are assigned to committees through a process that the entire Council votes on.

The NYC City Council Committee Membership dataset is drawn from the City Council's legislative API and updated weekly. Committee membership by City Council Members changes infrequently. This dataset includes committee membership starting Jan 1, 2018.

Committee Descriptions: https://council.nyc.gov/committees/

Github: https://github.com/NewYorkCityCouncil/districts/tree/master/district_data/committees

More info and API Key for Legislative API: https://council.nyc.gov/legislation/api/

Legislative API endpoints utilized for Committee Membership:

1)http://webapi.legistar.com/Help/Api/GET-v1-Client-Bodies
https://webapi.legistar.com/v1/nyc/bodies/?token={}&$filter=(BodyTypeName+eq+'Committee'+or+BodyTypeName+eq+'Subcommittee'+or+BodyTypeName+eq+'Land Use')+and+BodyActiveFlag+eq+1

2)http://webapi.legistar.com/Help/Api/GET-v1-Client-Bodies-BodyId-OfficeRecords
https://webapi.legistar.com/v1/nyc/bodies/{}/officerecords/?token={}&$filter=OfficeRecordStartDate+ge+datetime'{}'+and+OfficeRecordEndDate+eq+datetime'{}

The Law Department is composed of 17 legal divisions. Three support divisions provide high quality services to the Law Department's 650 attorneys.

List of legislation that was sponsored by the Borough President and passed.

The Law Department issues press releases on major cases as a service to the media and the public.

The Corporation Counsel is often invited to address bar associations, law students, and other organizations. Below are links to the text of speeches given by Corporation Counsel

First Assistant Corporation Counsel Jeffrey D. Friedlander writes a bi-monthly column, "Municipal Law," for the New York Law Journal on issues of importance relating to public affairs law. Mr. Friedlander is the Law Department's second-in-command and a member of its Executive Staff. The first column appeared in March 2003.