Julia Mandell named Hillsborough County Attorney

Hillsborough County Commissioners have unanimously approved a contract with Julia Mandell to serve as the new County Attorney.

The three-year contract allows Mandell to replace Christine Beck, who is retiring.

Commissioners approved an extension to Beck’s contract, to serve until Jan. 12. The extension will facilitate a seamless transition in the County Attorney’s Office, with Mandell beginning her service to the county Jan. 13.

Mandell is currently Hillsborough County Senior Assistant Attorney, a role she has held since December. She took that job as an important homecoming and full circle in her career, as she previously served as an Assistant County Attorney from 1996 until 2003.

Mandell also previously served as City Attorney for Tampa from 2013 until 2017 as part of her 13-year tenure in the Tampa Attorney’s Office.

“I keep getting drawn back to local government,” she said. “It’s so important in people’s everyday lives. Government law is sort of the unsung hero.”

As County Attorney, Mandell will represent and provide legal advice to the Board of County Commissioners, the County Administrator and all county departments. The County Attorney’s Office also provides legal services to all constitutionally elected officers, including the Hillsborough County Sheriff, Clerk of Court, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections and Tax Collector.

Because Mandell began her career as a young lawyer who had just passed the bar at the county, she knows many people who have been in the County Attorney’s Office since her early days working there as a law clerk. Many of her once and former colleagues are, or soon will be, retiring, and that’s informing one of her top priorities.

Faced with a difficult job market for new lawyers at the time, Mandell was actually thrilled to find and be offered a job at the county as a law clerk … making just $7.50 an hour. Despite the low pay, Mandell said she owes a debt of gratitude to the county for launching her career trajectory, and she wants to pay it forward by ensuring young lawyers have opportunities to work, learn and grow their own burgeoning careers at the county or in other local government roles.

Mandell has been board certified in city, county and local government law since 2003.

She previously practiced in several prominent law firms specializing in local government and land use law in the Tampa Bay area, including most recently at GrayRobinson, where she worked until returning to the county last year.

Mandell said the firm, where she served as a shareholder and leader of its land use and real estate section, was supportive of her move.

“I left a really good family to go to this family,” she said of GrayRobinson and the county.

“I am honored and blessed to be engaged and involved in the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office,” she said, adding her thanks to the Hillsborough County Commission for its unanimous support of her promotion, which she said she didn’t see coming when she first returned to local government last year.

“It just worked out. I didn’t know it was going to work out, but it did,” she said.