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Office of the County Counsel
Office of the County Counsel
headshot of jeremy pilaar with blue suit and white shirt

Jeremy Pilaar ( He/Him/His )

Lead Deputy County Counsel

Overview

Jeremy Pilaar joined the Office of the County Counsel in 2021.  As Lead Deputy County Counsel for the Health and Hospitals Team, Jeremy oversees a group of attorneys who advise the Board of Supervisors and the County of Santa Clara Health System (CSCHS) on how to improve health care for the region’s nearly 2 million residents.  CSCHS is the second-largest public health and hospital system in California, with an annual budget of more than $4.5 billion, and comprises Santa Clara Valley Healthcare’s three safety-net hospitals, 13 primary care clinics, and outpatient pharmacy network; the Behavioral Health Services Department; the Public Health Department; the Emergency Medical Services Agency; the Custody Health Services Department; and Valley Health Plan. 

Prior to joining the Office of the County Counsel, Jeremy was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, where he helped low-income clients obtain essential health coverage and public benefits.  Jeremy also previously served as an associate at a nationally recognized plaintiffs’ law firm, a clinical lecturer at Yale Law School, and an affirmative litigation fellow at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office.  

Jeremy’s professional expertise includes health consumer protections, hospital and clinic compliance, public health care financing, state and local government, and affirmative litigation. 

Office practice areas
  • Health and Hospitals Team 
​​Education
  • Yale Law School, J.D., 2018 
    • Managing Editor, Yale Law & Policy Review 
    • Board Member, American Constitution Society 
    • Student Attorney, San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project 
    • Student Attorney, Legislative Advocacy Clinic 
  • University of Oxford, M.Phil., Comparative Social Policy, 2015 
    • Social Sciences Divisional Scholar, Lady Margaret Hall 
    • Editor, St Antony’s International Review 
  • University of California, Berkeley, B.A., Political Economy, 2012 
    • Editor-in-Chief, Berkeley Political Review 
    • Departmental Citation Award, Political Economy 
    • Institute of International Studies Junior Scholar 
    • Philo Sherman Bennett Prize in Political Science 
Prior experience
  • Staff Attorney at Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County (2020-2021) 
  • Associate at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP (2019-2020) 
  • Clinical Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School (2018-2019) 
  • Affirmative Litigation Fellow at San Francisco City Attorney’s Office (2018-2019)