Candidate for
City Attorney; City of Long Beach

Bob Shannon was elected City Attorney of Long Beach in 1998, and again in 2002. He has been responsible for a municipal legal office that is staffed by 67 employees, including 22 attorneys. He has served as a municipal lawyer for his entire professional career in Los Angeles (1969-1974) and in Long Beach (1974-present). From 1985 to 1998, he was the Assistant City Attorney, supervising the day-to-day operations of the office.

His prior professional background includes the following:

-Prosecutor, Los Angeles City Attorney's Office (1969-1970).
-Deputy, Los Angeles City Attorney's Office (1970-1974). Responsible for representing the City and its employees in state and federal court, handling over 300 litigated cases.
-Senior Deputy, Long Beach City Attorney's Office (1974-1985). Handled, or supervised the handling of, all lawsuits seeking money damages against the City and/or its employees.

As a civil litigator and trial attorney, he has handled in excess of 1,000 cases in state and federal court and has tried to a conclusion over 70 matters, including 35 jury trials.

In addition, he has:

-Appeared and argued in the California Supreme Court on six occasions, including the case which established limits on the use of deadly force by police officers (Peterson v. City of Long Beach); and the case which set forth the right of cities to recover money damages against persons who file frivolous lawsuits (City of Long Beach v. Bozek);

-Participated as speaker at the City Attorney Section of the League of California Cities on various subjects, including: Resisting the Frivolous Lawsuit; Tort Developments; Civil Rights Liability of Cities; Civil Liability of Cities; and Law Office Management;

-Supervised the presentation of a series of seminars for City Attorneys, covering municipal law in California (League of California Cities, Seminar 2000);

-Lectured at the Los Angeles Police Academy and the Long Beach Police Academy to police recruits and to police officers undergoing in-service training.

He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Federal District Court for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of California; is a member of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, American Board of Trial Advocates, Women Lawyers of Long Beach (sic), Irish American Bar Association, and the Long Beach Bar Association (Board of Governors 1981-1982); and serves as an Arbitrator/Mediator with the Los Angeles Superior Court. He is past president of the City Attorney Section of the League of California Cities (1999-2000).

He has been active in the City's civic and community affairs, including membership in the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce. He has two daughters, Kathleen and Meghan, both of whom are working full time and attending college. He and his late wife, Linda, moved to Long Beach in 1974.