The usual sales argument to work from home has bones that work can be done equally cash outside the office, promoting morals and allowing employees to administer other commitments while gathering and equating their professional response.
But a main lawyer in the office of the lawyer of the city of San Diego may be testing the limits of remote work.
The newly chosen city lawyer, Heather Ferbert, promoted one of her main deputies to a newly created executive position that paid almost $ 300000 a year and allowed her to work remotely and an extended marine cruise in the world.
Jean Jordan, who was a consisting lawyer appointed in northern California before being attracted to San Diego four years ago, departed in the Circunnavigation of four months at the end of January, acknowledged the office of the city lawyer.
She is in the middle of her global excursion and due to her house at the end of next month. It is also collecting salary and full -time benefits, including vacations.
The city lawyer’s office confirmed the unusual agreement outside the office after the requisition of the Union of the Union of San Diego, an explanation in response to the complaints that the newspaper received about the trip.
According to a Ferbert spokesman, the city’s new lawyer personally approved the work package at sea under his professional discretion.
“As head of an independent city department, the city lawyer has the authority to allow temporary teleworking agreements for office employees in a basic case,” said Ferbert spokesman Ibrahim Ahmed, in a statement.
“In this case, the city lawyer thoroughly examined the job responsibilities of the position and determined that all the required work could be done remotely in a temporary base without impact on office operations,” he added.
Ferbert “remains in constant communication with all members of his executive team,” and the office “has not experienced delays or other negative impacts” as a result of the agreement, said Ahmed.
Jordan was hired as one of the six lawyers of the city city in 2021, when he resigned as a county county, an agricultural community in much of Sacramento.
Ferbert approved a reorganization of the San Diego Bar Association at the beginning of his mandate, week after defeating the state assembly Brian Maienschein in the race to succeed the former city lawyer Mara Elliott.
The restructuring requested to put a new lawyer of the executive assistant city in charge of three other assistants, the lawyers in charge of civil litigation, the City Council and government services and the departments of the City Hall.
Two other main assistants, lawyers who supervised the criminal division and the administration, continue to inform the city lawyer directly.
Ferbert’s office did not answer the questions about why Jordan was appointed for superior work before embarking on the extended trip, or why the reorganization of the office was not delayed until after the new executive returned.
Jordan, who is now paid $ 282,651 per year, his work statement refused to discuss.
“I have no additional comments beyond what the city’s lawyer’s office, Alreamy provides,” he said by email.
Jordan raised $ 239,000 a year before the promotion, according to the public salary database on the transparent line of California. The same database said Jordan received $ 155,000 in 2020, his last full year as the best lawyer in Sutter County.
Shelley Webb is a supervisor attached in the criminal division of the city’s lawyer’s office. She also serves as president of the attached association of the lawyers of the city of San Diego, the union that repains to the lawyers of the city.
Webb declined to comment on Jordan’s company abroad, but confirmed that he is not. 2 people in the office did not inform their personnel lawyers who would travel for a prolonged period.
“The DCAA had not previously reported this agreement for the lawyer of the City Assistant Executive Jordan and has no statement at this time,” he said by email.
But Marlea Dell’anno, a private practice lawyer who previously served as an assistant lawyer of the city of San Diego, said that allowing something in some way while dedicated to a world cruise for months and is a high rank elevator.
“It’s like being an absent father,” said Dell’anno, who was fired by former city lawyer Jan Goldsmith and then won a multimillion -dollar jury prize in an unfair termination case.
“You are No. 2 For the city lawyer. How critic can you have the role that is not accessible to the people you lead?” She said. “This does not seem something that a good taxpayers dollars would allow.”
World cruises are generally reserved months in advance. A 115 -day trip promoted by Princess Cruises, for example, are the acceptance reserves that leave Los Angeles on January 21, 2026 and return on May 16. The round trip Circle Pacific Cruise stops in 59 ports in more than one country of doxes.
Many guests are retired who seek to do worldwide from a comfortable base in the sea. But a growing number of digital nomads travel the world while mountaining their work with little more than a laptop and a reliable Wi-Fi.
According to the consultant Mbo Partners, which tracks trends and culture in the workplace, the number of digital nomads rose from 7.3 million in 2019 to more than 18 million by 2024.
“This level of growth reflects a new constant growth normality and a true entry to the main current,” the company wrote in its 2024 State of Independence in America report.
The city of San Diego has a comprehensive policy that dictates how employees can request to work remotely.
Participants in the teleworking program need the approval of the head of their department and the Human Resources Office. Remote employees must also sign an agreement by issuing their terms of service, working conditions and other rules.
“The duration hours are expected to respond in three hours to telephone calls, voice messages, text messages, emails or other communications from managers, supervisors or co -workers requesting an answer”, the 19 -page policy.
According to the current budget, the city lawyer’s office uses just under 425 people and will spend $ 85 million this year. The office is one of the largest law firms in San Diego, with more than 175 lawyers.
Most employees work both in the office and other places, said Ahmed.
“These schedules allow staff to meet their various labor demands, including the time spent the court, mediation, research, audiences and other labor tasks that take them to the field,” he said.
In total, just under 2,000 of the 13,300 city employees are approved to work remotely with formal signed agreements, said the mayor’s office.
Development services lead all departments with 393 approved workers, public services are the second with 307 people allowed to work outside the office, and engineering and capital projects are third with 298 approvals.