Ellen Gross was appointed Assistant General Counsel in July 2013. She has been an attorney for over 22 years and a public sector attorney for over 15 years. Her expertise as a litigator was honed during her time as a Deputy Public Defender in San Diego County’s first Office of the Public Defender in which she was part of the first class of post-bar clerks hired by the office. She went on to private practice specializing in civil rights law and employment law. In 1997, Gross joined the Office of the City Attorney in the City of Chula Vista. In 2000, she was recruited by the San Diego Unified Port District’s Office of the Port Attorney as a Deputy Port Attorney III. Her areas of practice include labor and employment law, litigation, civil rights and law enforcement, municipal law, environmental law, first amendment, and land use. Gross has extensive knowledge of the District’s legal issues and has represented the District in numerous litigation matters administratively including matters before the Regional Water Quality Control Board, in state and federal court, as well as the Fourth District and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. She worked extensively on the Port District’s ongoing anchoring regulations, and its recent vendor/performer ordinance. Gross graduated from U.C. Berkeley earning a degree in History. She obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego where she was lauded for her oral advocacy skills and her commitment to individual civil rights.