Whelan

The county of San Diego adopted a charter in 1932 which was approved by the legislature and went into effect on July 1, 1933. Section 17 of article IV of this charter contains the following: “There is hereby created the office of county counsel. The district attorney shall be ex-officio county counsel.” Section 31 of article VI of the charter, in setting forth the duties of the county counsel, includes the following:

After the charter went into effect the respondent public administrator filed in the Superior Court of San Diego County a petition for letters of administration in the estate of Frank Plotos, also known as Frank Pololus, deceased. The public administrator was represented in this matter by a firm of San Diego attorneys. Shortly thereafter, the petitioner herein demanded of the respondent, in writing, that he be substituted as attorney in said matter in accordance with the charter provision above set forth. This demand having been refused, the petitioner filed in the superior court a petition for a writ of mandate, asking that the respondent be compelled to substitute the petitioner as attorney of record in said estate and to permit the petitioner to act as his attorney…