Andrea Ordin, formally approved Tuesday as the Los Angeles County government's top lawyer, said the new job means she will step down from her current post on the Los Angeles Police Commission, the civilian board that oversees the LAPD.

"It would be two very demanding jobs, and I can't do them both," said Ordin, who will leave the five-member commission at the end of January.

As general counsel, Ordin will oversee a staff of 250 lawyers who provide legal advice to the county's Board of Supervisors and its many departments. Currently in private practice, the highly-respected attorney was appointed to the Police Commission by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005.

A former federal and state prosecutor, Ordin was also a member of the Christopher Commission, the independent body that recommended reforms to the LAPD after the 1991 beating of Rodney King and the subsequent riots.Ordin's departure will mark the second time in recent months that Villaraigosa will have to fill a vacancy on the high-profile panel. In November, he tapped attorney Debra Wong Yang to replace another outgoing member.