los angeles county counsel annual litigation cost report — fiscal year 2012-2013

8/13/2019 Los Angeles County Counsel Annual Litigation Cost Report Fiscal Year 2012-2013

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~pFOSA COUNTYOFLOS NGELESo r , ~ NS F ~ ' ' ' ~ ~ a ` ~ OFFICE OF THE COUNTYCOUNSELm 648KENNETHH HNHALL OF ADMINISTRATIONk ~N 5 WESTTEMPLE STREET Xn

C' ~CIFORN ~P LOSANGELESCALIFORNIA9 122713 TELEPHONE(213)974-1762

JOHN KRATTLI FACSIMILE

County Counsel January 2,2014 (213) 26-7 446TDD(213)633- 0 9 0 1

The Honorable Boardof u p e r v i s o r sCountyof Los Angeles383 Kenneth H a hnH a l l of d m i n i s t r a t i o n500We s t Temple t r e e tLos Angeles, a l i f o r n i a 90012

Re : County Counse l A nnua l i t i g a t i o n CostRepor t F i s c a l Ye a r 2012-201 3

De a r u p e r v i s o r s :Enclos ed s t h e County CounselAnnua l i t i g a t i o n Cost Report Cost

Report) o r F i s c a l Ye a r 2012-2013. The Cost Repo rt r o v i d e s a s umma r y of h ec o n f i d e n t i a l Annua l i t i g a t i o n Re port o r F i s c a l Ye ar 2012- 1 3 . The CostRe port s a u b l i c documenta ndw i l l bep o s t e d on h e County Counsel w e b s i t e .

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COUNTYCOUNSELANNUALLITIGATIONCOST REPORT FISCALYEAR 012-2013

I . OverviewThe Annual L i t i g a t i o n Expenses f o r F i s c a l Year 2012-2013

FY 012- 1 3) were $89 m i l l i o n . T h i s wa s down 23 p e r c e n t from t h e$115.2 i l l i o n s p e n t l a s t f i s c a l y e a r , and wa s t h e l o w e s t amount of l i t i g a t i o ne x p e n d i t u r e s p a i d i n t h e l a s t s e v e n f i s c a l y e a r s . The $89 m i l l i o n s p e n t t h i s y e a ri n c l u d e d $ 3 5 . 8 m i l l i o n i n Judgments and S e t t l e m e n t s , and $53.2 m i l l i o n i n A t t o r n e yFees and C o s t s Fees and C o s t s ) .

I I . Judgments and e t t l e m e n t sOf h e $89 m i l l i o n p a i d i n l i t i g a t i o n e x p e n s e s t h i s y e a r , $ 3 5 . 8 m i l l i o n

wa s p a i d t o s a t i s f y 18 udgments and t o s t t l 228 a s e s . The 3 5 . 8 m i l l i o n s p e n t onjudgments and s e t t l e m e n t s wa s down $24 i l l i o n , o r 40 e r c e n t , a s compared t o l a s tf i s c a l y e a r . T h i s wa s h e l o w e s t amount of udgments and s e t t l e m e n t s p a i d i n t h e l a s te i g h t f i s c a l y e a r s .

JudgmentsI n FY 2012- 1 3 , judgments t o t a l e d $ 7 . 2 m i l l i o n and were down

60 e r c e n t from t h e $17.9 m i l l i o n p a i d l a s t y e a r . Only two judgments e x c e e d e d t h e$1 m i l l i o n mark, Dirks $ 3 . 9 m i l l i o n e x c e s s i v e f o r c e c a s e ) and XYZ i s t r i b u t o r s( $ 1 . 4 m i l l i o n s e a r c h w a r r a n t c a s e ) . The $ 7 . 2 m i l l i o n p a i d t o s a t i s f y judgments h i sy e a r was h e l e a s t amount a i d i n t h e l a s t s i x f i s c a l y e a r s .

S e t t l e m e n t sThe County p a i d $ 2 8 . 6 m i l l i o n i n s e t t l e m e n t s t h i s y e a r . T h i s wa s

$13.4 m i l l i o n l e s s t h a n t h e $42 i l l i o n p a i d l a s t y e a r , and wa s h e s e c o n d c o n s e c u t i v ey e a r i n which t h e amount p a i d f o r s e t t l e m e n t s d e c l i n e d . Only f o u r of t h e 228s e t t l e m e n t s t h i s y e a r exceeded $1 m i l l i o n . The two a r g e s t were Medical M a l p r a c t i c ec a s e s i n v o l v i n g p a t i e n t s a t LAC+USC edical C e n t e r . O n e n v o l v e d a b r a i n i n j u r ywhich c c u r r e d d u r i n g a k i n g r a p h s u r g e r y (Rodriguez $3.95 m i l l i o n ) , and t h e o t h e rr e l a t e d t o n e u r o l o g i c a l i n j u r i e s r e s u l t i n g from t h e t r e a t m e n t of b a c t e r i a l m e n i n g i t i s(Lagos $ 2 . 9 5 m i l l i o n ) . Two t h e r s e t t l e m e n t s which exceeded $ m i l l i o n t h i s y e a ri n c l u d e d a s u s p e c t who wa s s h o t i n t h e s p i n e and r e n d e r e d a p a r a p l e g i c (White -$ 1 . 9 m i l l i o n ) , and a former b a i l i f f w i t h t h e S h e r i f f s Department c l a i m e d t h a t s h es h o u l d n o t have been a s s i g n e d t o p a t r o l d u t y b e c a u s e of a d i s a b i l i t y ( B o l l i n g e r -$ 1 . 2 5 m i l l i o n ) . These f o u r s e t t l e m e n t s t o t a l e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y $10 m i l l i o n anda c c o u n t e d f o r more h a n on e- t h i r d of h e $28.6 m i l l i o n p a i d i n s e t t l e m e n t s t h i s y e a r .


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C i t y of lhambraThejudgments and s e t t l e m e n t s p a i d i n FY012-13 do n o t i n c l u d e a

32.2 m i l l i o n p a r t i a l payment mad e t h i s y e a r t o 47 p l a i n t i f f c i t i e s i n t h e C i t y ofAlhambYa, t a l v Countyof os Angeles a c t i o n . The p l a i n t i f f c i t i e s c l a i m t h a t t h eAuditor- C o n t r o l l e r improperly c a l c u l a t e d t h e amou nt of r o p e r t y Tax A d m i n i s t r a t i v eFees c o l l e c t e d fr om t h o s e c i t i e s b e g i n n i n g i n FY 2006- 0 7 . A f t e r a C a l i f o r n i aSupreme Court found t h a t t h e A u d i t o r- C o n t r o l l e r improperlyc a l c u l a t e d t h e amount,t h e County madea payment of 32.2m i l l i o n a s a p a r t i a l r e f u n d of h e f e e s . Thisr e f u n d was o t i n c l u d e d i n t h e Annual i t i g a t i o n expenses o r FY 012- 1 3 .

I I I . AttorneyFees a nd CostsI n a d d i t i o n t o 35.8 m i l l i o n p a i d i n Judgments and S e t t l e m e n t s , t h e

8 9 i l l i o n p a i d i n l i t i g a t i o n e x p e n d i t u r e s t h i s y e a r a l s o i n c l u d e d A t t o r n e y Fees andCostsi n t h e amount of 53.2 m i l l i o n . This was 2 . 1 m i l l i o n , o r f o u r p e r c e n t , l e s st h a n was p a i d l a s t f i s c a l y e a r . Of h e 53.2 m i l l i o n p a i d t h i s y e a r , 39.8 m i l l i o n wasp a i d t o C o n t r a c t Counsel and 13.4 m i l l i o n was b i l l e d byCounty Counsel t o o t h e rCounty d e p a r t m e n t s f o r l i t i g a t i o n s e r v i c e s , i n c l u d i n g c o s t s . The amount b i l l e d byCou nty Counsel i n c l u d e d t h e a t t o r n e y f e e s and c o s t s f o r managingo r o v e r s e e i n gl i t i g a t e d c a s e s a s s i g n e d t o C o n t r a c t Counsel, a s w e l l a s h a n d l i n g c a s e s i n-housew i t h o u t t h e involvement of o n t r a c t Counsel.

Contract Counsel an d County CounselC o n t r a c t Counsel f e e s and c o s t s t h i s y e a r weredown 1 . 1 m i l l i o n a s

c ompared t o l a s t y e a r , and County Counsel f e e s and c o s t s were downby a n o t h e r1 m i l l i o n . These e d u c t i o n s i n a t t o r n e y f e e s an dc o s t s f o r b o t h C o n t r a c t Cou nsel andCounty Counsel o c c u r r e d p r i m a r i l y i n t h e a r e a s of Employment, General L i a b i l i t y,and aw Enforcement. Fees and c o s t s p a i d on Employmen t m a t t e r s were down i ns e v e r a l d e p a r t m e n t s , i n c l u d i n g t h e Chi efE x e c u t i v e O f f i c e , S h e r i f f s Department,D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ' s O f f i c e , and t h e P r o b a t i o n Department. Fees and c o s t s a l s od e c r e a s e d i n General L i a b i l i t y c a s e s i n v o l v i n g t h e Board of u p e r v i s o r s , Departmentof u b l i c Works, arks and R e c r e a t i o n , and P u b l i c H e a l t h . The e d u c t i o n i n t h e LawEnforcemen ta r e a was i m i t e d t o c o s t s p r i m a r i l y i n v o l v i n g t h e S h e r i f f s Department.Although such c o s t s were down by 557,000 a s c ompared t o l a s t y e a r , t h e S h e r i f f sDepartment p e n t 1.8 m i l l i o n more n f e e s on aw Enforcement c a s e s t h i s y e a r t h a non ey e a r a g o .

L i t i g a t i o n E x p e n d i t u r e sTen County d e p a r t m e n t s s p e n t 8 0 m i l l i o n , or 9 p e r c e n t , of t h e

C o u n t y s 8 9 m i l l i o n e x p e n d i t u r e s i n FY2012- 1 3 . These expenses i n c l u d e djudgmentsan d s e t t l e m e n t s and f e e s and c o s t s i n av a r i e t y of r e a s , i n c l u d i n g LawEnforcement, General L i a b i l i t y , Employment, Medi cal M a l p r a c t i c e , and Auto


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L i a b i l i t y . I n FY 2012- 1 3 , d e p a r t m e n t a l e x p e n d i t u r e s by t h e t o p t e n d e p a r t m e n t sranged from a high of 43 m i l l i o n p a i d by t h e S h e r i f f s Department t o a low of1 m i l l i o n p a i d by h e Department of Mental H e a l t h . T h e i t i g a t i o n e x p e n d i t u r e s oft h e t o p t e n d e p a r t m e n t s f o r FY 012-13 were s f o l l o w s :

ANNUAL ITIGATION EXPENSESTOPTEN DEPARTMENTSFISCAL YEAR 2 12- 13

S h e r i f f 43,001,077Health Services 14,629,862P u b l i c Works 8,036,909C h i l d r e n a n d Family e r v i c e s 3,676,866F i r e D e p a r t m e n t 2,699,080Chief Executive O f f i c e 1,979,693Parks &R e c r e a ti o n 1,635,518C o m m u n i t y & S e n i o r e r v i c e s 1,545 399Probation 1,475,468M e n tal Health 1,044,736

IV. Contract i t i e s E x p e n s e s a n d Wat e rworks E x p e n s e sOf h e 89 i l l i o n p a i d i n Annual i t i g a t i o n Exp e n s e s h i s f i s c a l y e a r ,

a p p r o x i m a t e l y 9.8 m i l l i o n w a s p a i d by t h e C o n t r a c t C i t i e s T r u s t Fu n d a n d o t h e rs p e c i a l d i s t r i c t s

Contract C i t i e sI n FY 2012- 1 3 , 7 . 5 m i l l i o n of h e 89 m i l l i o n Annual L i t i g a t i o n

Exp e n s e s w a s p a i d by h e C o n t r a c t C i t i e s T r u s t Fund. This 7.5 m i l l i o n , i n c l u d i n gjudgments a n d s e t t l e m e n t s a n d a t t o r n e y f e e s a n d c o s t s , w a s t h e r e s u l t of i a b i l i t i e sa r i s i n g from t h e a l l e g e d misconduct of h e r i f f s d e p u t i e s c o n t r a c t u a l l y a s s i g n e d t ov a r i o u s c i t i e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e County 7.3 m i l l i o n ) , a n d f o r l i a b i l i t i e s r e s u l t i n g fromwork performed f o r c i t i e s by h e Department of u b l i c Works 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 ) .

S p e c i a l D i s t r i c t sTwo p e c i a l d i s t r i c t s , t h e Los Angeles County Waterworks i s t r i c t 40

a n d t h e Flood C o n t r o l D i s t r i c t , a l s o p a i d a p o r t i o n of t h e 89 m i l l i o n AnnualL i t i g a t i o n Exp e n s e s t h i s y e a r . T h e Los Angeles County Waterworks D i s t r i c t p a i da p p r o x i m a t e l y 1.9 m i l l i o n i n f e e s a n d c o s t s f o r a groundwater r i g h t s a c t i o n i n t h eAntelope V a l l e y . T h e Flood C o n t r o l D i s t r i c t p a i d a p p r o x i m a t e l y 442,000 n a Clean

3


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Water Act c t i o n b r o u g h t by h e N a t u r a l R e s o u r c e s Defense C o u n c i l i n v o l v i n g w a t e rq u a l i t y s t a n d a r d s i n Los Angeles r i v e r s , w a t e r s h e d s , and b e a c h e s . I n Y 012- 1 3 ,t h e Waterworks D i s t r i c t and t h e Flood C o n t r o l D i s t r i c t p a i d a o t a l of p p r o x i m a t e l y 2 . 3 m i l l i o n of h e 89 i l l i o n Annual L i t i g a t i o n E x p e n s e s .

V. D i s m i s s a l sI n Y 012- 1 3 , t h e County s u c c e s s f u l l y d i s p o s e d of 267 a s e s w i t h o u t

p a y i n g p l a i n t i f f s o r t h e i r a t t o r n e y s any money. C o n t r a c t Counsel and County Counselo b t a i n e d t h e s e d i s m i s s a l s by e i t h e r p e r s u a d i n g p l a i n t i f f s o r t h e i r a t t o r n e y s t ov o l u n t a r i l y d i s m i s s t h e i r a c t i o n s o r by o b t a i n i n g c o u r t o r d e r s t h r o u g h a v a r i e t y ofmotions (such a s motions t o d i s m i s s , d e m u r r e r s , and m o t i o n s f o r s u mmaryjudgments) i r e c t i n g t h a t t h e c a s e s be d i s m i s s e d . The County expended 7 . 5 m i l l i o ni n a t t o r n e y f e e s and c o s t s i n o b t a i n i n g t h e se d i s m i s s a l s . T h i s w as 6 . 1 m i l l i o n morei n a t t o r n e y f e e s and c o s t s t h a n w as p a i d l a s t y e a r t o s e c u r e 179 i s m i s s a l s .

VI. New asesThe number of n e w c a s e s f e l l below t h e 800 mark f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n

t h e l a s t t h r e e f i s c a l y e a r s . I n Y 012- 1 3 , t h e r e were 794 n e w c a s e s , d o w n from t h e819 n e w c a s e s l a s t y e a r , and t h e 849 n e w c a s e s i n v o l v i n g t h e County two y e a r s a g o .There were d e c r e a s e s i n n e w c a s e s i n v o l v i n g s e v e r a l d e p a r t m e n t s a s compared t o l a s ty e a r , i n c l u d i n g t h e Department of P u b l i c Works, D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ' s O f f i c e ,Department of H e a l t h S e r v i c e s , and t h e Department of Community and S e n i o rS e r v i c e s . The number of n e w c a s e s i n v o l v i n g t h e Department of u b l i c Wo r k s wasd o w n on e- t h i r d compared t o l a s t y e a r and w as t h e l o w e s t i n t h e l a s t s i x f i s c a l y e a r s .New a s e s i n v o l v i n g t h e D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ' s O f f i c e and t h e Department of H e a l t hS e r v i c e s were d o w n 60 p e r c e n t and 20 p e r c e n t , r e s p e c t i v e l y . New a s e s i n v o l v i n gt h e Department of Co mm u n i ty and S e n i o r S e r v i c e s dropped from 22 a s t y e a r t o j u s tone t h i s y e a r . However, t h e r d e p a r t m e n t s saw i n c r e a s e s o v e r l a s t y e a r , i n c l u d i n gt h e Department of u b l i c H e a l t h , A u d i t o r - C o n t r o l l e r , and t h e Department of a r k sand R e c r e a t i o n . New a s e s i n v o l v i n g t h e Department of u b l i c H e a l t h more t h a nd o u b l e d , and c a s e s i n v o l v i n g t h e A u d i t o r- C o n t r o l l e r and P a r k s and R e c r e a t i o n r o s eby 73 p e r c e n t and 50 p e r c e n t , r e s p e c t i v e l y . The most n o t a b l e i n c r e a s e t h i s y e a ro c c u r r e d i n n e w c a s e s b r o u g h t a g a i n s t t h e County which f a i l e d t o i d e n t i f y ap a r t i c u l a r d e p a r t m e n t . S t e a d i l y i n c r e a s i n g o v e r t h e l a s t f i v e f i s c a l y e a r s , t h i s y e a rsuch c a s e s j u mp ed from 68 o 101 n e w c a s e s .

VII. T r i a l s , Writs, a n d AppealsThe number of a s e s t r i e d by t h e County d e c r e a s e d f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e

i n t h r e e f i s c a l y e a r s down o 31 from t h e 42 r i e d l a s t f i s c a l y e a r , and t h e 35 t r i e dt h e y e a r b e f o r e . A s n p r e v i o u s f i s c a l y e a r s , t h e m a j o r i t y of a s e s t r i e d (20) n v o l v e da L a w Enforcement m a t t e r . T h e r e m a i n i n g t r i l s i n c l u d e d f i v e Automobile L i a b i l i t ya c t i o n s , t h r e e Employment m a t t e r s , two Dangerous C o n d i t i o n c a s e s , and one Tax


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m a t t e r . The County was s u c c e s s f u l i n 58 p e r c e n t of h e c a s e s t r i e d - winning 1 8 ,l o s i n g 1 2 , and o b t a i n i n g one m i s t r i a l . Ten of h e 12 r i l l o s s e s o c c u r r e d i n LawEnforcement a s e s . The more o s t l y of h e s e l o s s e s were n Montalvo 8.76 i l l i o n s h o o t i n g a f t e r h i g h- s p e e d c a r p u r s u i t ) and Thomas 7 . 5 m i l l i o n s h o o t i n g a f t e rf o o t p u r s u i t ) . The County p r e v a i l e d i n f 8 w r i t a c t i o n s t h i s y e a r , and won 7 7p e r c e n t of h e 32 a p p e a l s i n which t was a p a r t y . Two p p e a l s were p a r t i c u l a r l ys i g n i f i c a n t Genest and Schmeer. I n G e n e s t , t h e County u n s u c c e s s f u l l y c h a l l e n g e dt h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l i t y of a l i f o r n i a S t a t e Assembly Bi1126 which s h i f t e d 2 . 0 5 b i l l i o ni n r e d e v e l o p m e n t f u n d s t o t h e S t a t e . I n t h e s e c o n d , Schmeer, h e County s e c u r e d af a v o r a b l e d e c i s i o n e n f o r c i n g i t s o r d i n a n c e which banned t h e u s e of l a s t i c bags i nr e t i l e s t a b l i s h m e n t s .

V I I I . RecoveriesThe County r e c o v e r e d 937,295 t h r o u g h i t s l i t i g a t i o n e f f o r t s i n

FY 012- 1 3 . These e c o v e r i e s i n c l u d e d l i t i g a t i o n e x p e n s e s , p r o p e r t y t a x e s , and i v i lp e n a l t i e s . The most s i g n i f i c a n t of t h e s e r e c o v e r i e s a r o s e from a w r o n g f u l d e a t ha c t i o n ( A v e t i s y a n ) b r o u g h t by h e f a m i l y of a cab d r i v e r who was i l l e d a f t e r s t r i k i n ga g u a r d r a i l . The a m i l y s u e d t h e County and t h e County, n t u r n , b r o u g h t an a c t i o na g a i n s t t h e f a b r i c a t o r of h e g u a r d r a i l . U l t i m a t e l y , t h e County r e c o v e r e d 580,000from t h e i n s u r e r of h e f a b r i c a t o r t o c o v e r t h e C o u n t y ' s f e e s and c o s t s i n c u r r e d i n t h ed e f e n s e of h e m a t t e r .

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los angeles county counsel annual litigation cost report — fiscal year 2012-2013

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