During your legal career, you may be lucky enough to receive a call that changes your life’s path. I received that call in 1982. The caller introduced himself as John Witt, City Attorney for the City of San Diego, California, pictured above. In his very calm, but persuasive manner John convinced me to not only join the ABA’s Section of State and Local Government Law, but to accept a minor leadership role under his tutelage. The call changed my life, both professionally and personally.
August 18, 2021 Feature
Remembering A Great Section Leader: John Witt, City Attorney, San Diego, CA
James Baird
I joined the Section and, mentored by John and others, chaired a committee, co-authored or edited several books, and developed wonderful and long-lasting personal and professional relationships with other ABA members and leaders, both within and outside of the Section. Due to John’s guidance and urging, I became Chair of the Section, a member of the ABA House of Delegates, and one of ABA President Karen Mathis’ five Executive Committee Members, as Chair of the ABA Board of Governors’ Finance Committee. I built close personal relationships with numerous talented attorneys throughout the U.S. and its territories. I maintain and cherish those relationships to this day! Additionally, as a lifelong representative of management in public sector labor relations law, I came to understand some of the lingo and legal principles impacting other diverse municipal and state law areas such as land rights, zoning regulations, Section 1983 lawsuits and public sector election law, to name a few.
John, a unique and wonderful man, was a very talented and skilled attorney. It was many years after that initial call that I understood that he was a giant within the legal field. He mastered the art of being persuasive without being overbearing. For an elected public figure, John was quite selfless while exhibiting firmness and resolute toughness when required.
He was a champion of municipal law and of the ABA’s Section of State and Local Government Law. He joined the Section in the early 1980’s and served in various leadership capacities, including Chair of the Section from 1992-1993. He was always an ex-officio cheerleader for the Section and its member attorneys, and was awarded the Section’s highest honor, the Jefferson Fordham Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2010. He also served as President of the International Municipal Lawyers Association and helped found the ABA’s Public Sector Lawyers Division.
John joined the San Diego City Attorney’s staff of about 25 as an entry-level attorney in 1961. In 1969, he was elected City Attorney for the municipality, winning re-election for six successive terms before retiring in 1996 after 27 years of distinguished service. When he retired, John led an office of 125 skilled municipal attorneys, with a reputation second-to-none.
Among John’s many professional accomplishments, one he discussed with much glee, was the suit he litigated on behalf of the City of San Diego against major league baseball in 1973, to keep the San Diego Padres from moving to Washington, D.C. Like almost everything else he touched, John was successful. He retained major league baseball for his beloved San Diego through this litigation, and he remained a lifelong Padres fan.
John described his complicated job in the simplest of terms: “To keep the city’s legal affairs in order.” He further explained, “In doing that, you had to have independence to tell the elected officials what the law is, whether they want[ed] to hear it or not.” A contemporary once accused John of regularly providing “politic-less legal advice.”
John would carefully consider and thoughtfully comment on any matter on which he weighed in, and his remarks always added insight and helpful perspective.
It was a privilege to be part of Section leadership with John, and the Section benefitted from having such a fine, experienced, respected City Attorney in an active role with it for many years. John brought much credibility to our Section’s endeavors.
The impact John had on municipal law, and particularly on this Section, is perhaps best expressed by some of the Section leaders with whom John worked and mentored. Noted Texas attorney Carol Dinkins, Section Chair in 1991-1992, and the first woman Deputy Attorney General of the U.S., described John as “unfailingly calm, professional and gentlemanly.”
Ben Griffith, Section Chair in 2007-2008, and former President of the National Association of County Civil Attorneys, relayed the following: “About the time John Witt was serving as Chair of the Section, I invited him to speak to a group of attorneys at the National Association of Counties’ Annual Meeting in Chicago on Section 1988 Attorneys’ Fees Awards. That was the subject of John’s most recent successful ABA book. John’s willingness to serve, his unselfish contributions to the bench and bar, his positive outlook on service through the ABA and his enthusiasm even after many years of service were major factors that led me to become more active in the Section.”
Detroit attorney Mary Massaron, Section Chair in 2003-2004, writes the following of John’s ability to enjoy life while serving the Section and the profession. “John was a distinguished lawyer who always conducted himself with great professionalism.”
John passed away far too soon in 2018, at the age of 86. John was a bona fide “hero” to and for our Section, for the practice of municipal law, and for the legal profession he so faithfully served.