Kavita Narayan

Kavita Narayan is the Chief Assistant County Counsel.  As the Chief Assistant, Kavita partners with the County Counsel and fellow members of the Office’s executive team to oversee the performance, strategic planning, development, and administration of the Office of the County Counsel. 

Kavita also oversees the Public Safety and Justice Team, the Social Justice and Impact Litigation Team, and the Office’s legal representation of the Civil Grand Jury, the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring, and the County’s Division of Equity and Social Justice.  In addition, she co-leads the Office’s Conflicts of Interest team, which trains and advises County officials and employees on government ethics issues.  

Kavita joined the Office of the County Counsel in 2012 as a Deputy County Counsel, and she previously served as a Lead Deputy from 2017-2020 and an Assistant County Counsel from 2020-2023.  As a longstanding member of the Social Justice and Impact Litigation Team and Public Safety and Justice Team, Kavita served as a lead attorney in People v. Purdue Pharma, et al., the Office’s first-in-the-nation lawsuit against the opioid industry, and County of Santa Clara v. Trump, the County’s successful challenge to President Trump’s Executive Order threatening to defund “Sanctuary Jurisdictions”; acted as primary counsel in connection with the County’s groundbreaking local bail reform efforts; and played a key advisory role for the County’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and several other emergencies.

Prior to joining the County, Kavita served as a law clerk to the Hon. Mary M. Schroeder of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Hon. Susan Illston of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and was a Staff Attorney at the Ninth Circuit.  She received her J.D. from Stanford Law School in 2008, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in 2005 with highest distinction and with honors.