(Crain’s) — Mayor Richard M. Daley on Tuesday tapped labor lawyer Homero Tristan as head of the city’s human resources department.

As Chicago’s commissioner of human resources, Mr. Tristan, 37, is charged with reforming the city’s hiring practices as well as recruiting new employees, overseeing promotions and labor relations and enhancing productivity.

He will lead a department recently under fire from a federal hiring monitor who claimed the city was falling back into its old habit of filling positions based on clout.

Mr. Tristan replaces Jacqueline King, who left in February after two years on the job. At the time of her resignation, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office said her departure had nothing to do with a recent report that criticized City Hall for patronage hiring.

On Tuesday, Mr. Daley called his choice the “right person for the job,” given Mr. Tristan’s experience at law firms Jackson Lewis LLP and Tristan & Gonzalez LLC, his own firm.

“He is very knowledgeable in the areas of compliance with federal and state laws, employment counseling and labor relations,” Mr. Daley said. “And he brings the experience of managing his own business, as well.”

Mr. Tristan, a Chicago native, has represented the Chicago Board of Education in expulsion proceedings and is a past president of the Hispanic Lawyers Assn. of Illinois.