 After the American Revolution, New York City continued to grow, and during the 19th century, the City Council began hiring private attorneys to do the internal legal work of the City.When this arrangement proved unsatisfactory, due to the chaos of shifting the city's caseload between various outside counsels, the City Charter was amended in 1849 to create the Office of the Corporation Counsel (so named because New York City is a municipal corporation).The revision established an independently elected chief executive officer known as the Corporation Counsel, and a staff of five, to be known as the Law Department.