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Office of the County Counsel
Office of the County Counsel
headshot of kavita narayan with blue shirt

Kavita Narayan ( She/Her )

Chief Assistant County Counsel

Overview

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 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 lawsuit that blocked President Trump’s Executive Order threatening to defund “Sanctuary Jurisdictions”; served as primary counsel to the County’s groundbreaking bail reform efforts; and played a key advisory role for the County’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies.  

Office practice areas
  • Conflicts and Political Reform Act Team 
  • Public Safety and Justice Team 
  • Social Justice and Impact Litigation Team 
​​Education
  • Stanford Law School, J.D., 2008 
  • University of Iowa, B.A. with highest distinction and with honors, 2005 
Prior experience
  • Staff Attorney at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2010-2012)
  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Susan Illston, United States District Court for the Northern District of California (2009-2010) 
  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2008-2009)