[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6054383,"mediaKeyId","3338707-2c1499c6fd0e73f9fc30f83609b544a5","parentId",3338707,"title","Corporation Counsel outlines law department budget, pending litigation and federal‑response work","audioSeconds",818,"startMs",1250000,"endMs",2068000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3338707-2c1499c6fd0e73f9fc30f83609b544a5&start=1250&end=2068","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3338707-2c1499c6fd0e73f9fc30f83609b544a5/thumbnail_1250000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6054383/Boston-City/Suffolk-County/Massachusetts/Corporation-Counsel-outlines-law-department-budget-pending-litigation-and-federalresponse-work","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6054383-ee13e6a0f0e81242c78bd8afc972c68c/orig.mp4?Expires=1770420556&Signature=dXUnlPqIdB4pDRKc77PUuI~8Jkb5TgY4RzQ~o~WWwxDE3IX5Lmcbi~2Oj91~Z2-fLbxg3yI~2L1NZhpMcMGjtI14~omJnU2tRl8rCa7Iv3hn-MvQU0dtecd2P49hRFYtSw0~Czri5OfkbD2yQXzlQYZQNLrVus1ntNwPveV0VYYW1Vfkrte~FfJimeUP809G6sTOC3geugWki4xCrH2iHxsQQcCO3Rna9L731lYpjCkQ0k2jyPfUvbv2nNO-jvUUOswcNsn54CjXuvutGv4Xii7NIFm3ZiQbdcxXeq2kOuQ3CZHrIMhxKIXhey1Mve2353C-NJEmuP8Sbe7ABhs3oA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Boston City, MA","date","2025-05-12T21:18:37Z","article","At a May 12 Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means hearing, Corporation Counsel Adam Cederbaum and the law department described the department’s mission, staffing and budget needs and answered councilors’ questions about litigation costs, outside counsel use and public‑records workloads.

The law department’s work matters because it provides legal advice to city departments, performs transactional work, and defends the city in lawsuits; changes in federal policy have added litigation and amicus work that the department said is on top of its regular duties.

Cederbaum told the committee the department is “essentially an in‑house law firm representing the city of Boston.” He said the law department proposed a FY26 operating budget of about $10.9 million and reported a headcount of roughly 69 employees. He said personnel makes up more than three‑quarters of the budget, with contractual services (largely outside counsel) comprising most of the remainder.

On outside counsel spending, the department reported approximately $2.7 million in contracted services in FY24. Cederbaum said the department has spent about $2.0 million in contracted services so far in FY25. He told councilors the city uses outside counsel when there is a conflict, when specialized expertise is needed, or when workload and timing make outside resources appropriate.

Sam Denane, chief of staff and policy for the law department, described the department’s expanded “federal response” work since recent federal administrative changes. Denane said the department’s federal work falls into advising, investigations, suing as a plaintiff and supporting others’ lawsuits through amicus briefs. He noted the department recently acted as plaintiff to try to preserve $48 million in federal grants for homelessness programs and said the city had led or joined amicus efforts on National Institutes of Health funding, CHNV parole termination, TPS for Venezuelans, and a birthright‑citizenship case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Cederbaum and Denane provided litigation and workload figures during questioning: the department reported roughly 290–300 pending lawsuits, and the public‑records team has handled more than 8,000 requests this fiscal year. The law department also outlined recent payments from the city’s execution‑of‑courts line: approximately $12.5 million in FY21, $30.5 million in FY22, $14.0 million in FY24 and about $21.0 million so far in FY25.

Committee members asked for a breakdown of active cases by department and for a list of lawsuits in which the city has filed amicus briefs or is a plaintiff; Cederbaum and Denane said they would provide follow‑up information. The department also described an ongoing reorganization of public‑records handling that will move non‑attorney public‑records staff under the Commissioner of City Records while retaining legal review in the law department.

No formal votes were taken. Councilors used the hearing to press for more transparency about outside‑counsel use, diversity in contracting, and whether the department has capacity to expand litigation and advisory work amid increased federal litigation demands.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Ways & Means FY26 Budget: Labor Compliance & Worker Protections, Law Dept. on May 12, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Corporation Counsel Adam Cederbaum told the Ways and Means Committee the law department operates as an in‑house firm for the city, proposed a $10.9 million FY26 budget, described 69 staff and said the department is pursuing or supporting federal‑response litigation and amicus briefs while managing roughly 290–300 pending cases.","taxTitle","Boston City, Suffolk County, Massachusetts","taxId",3381,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6054388,"City officials present labor compliance budget, new BRJP dashboard showing 21% Boston resident hours, 7% women",923,295000,1218000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3338707-2c1499c6fd0e73f9fc30f83609b544a5&start=295&end=1218","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3338707-2c1499c6fd0e73f9fc30f83609b544a5/thumbnail_295000.jpg","/articles/6054388/Boston-City/Suffolk-County/Massachusetts/City-officials-present-labor-compliance-budget-new-BRJP-dashboard-showing-21-Boston-resident-hours-7-women","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6054388-9f10b3482278cd07e2587f04209dbd68/orig.mp4?Expires=1770420556&Signature=hZJOTxOPxTR9DhnSV1af0kXBgINLidhEfrj57u-4q648t9MPwsOi7TESWgHgEIBNzzoF71wGbzYl11pJ6MDC-Pic4PYLrOOe6uyS8YkRh7QxVe8pnz9ShpJft1feMHzrJPXj8B7qvM94MjKs7x~4RVc-HIdcMuh7hTTsmrE7GU3aUJ61UftQuyxAogdcm7GnofGwmXq274gRJITd2pNz1b6IjHzVwayxBJdlTgI-B9xKHnGJRfkA~08QcwZ1O2TjMQVNGU9uo4klzv2PtmtG-hZ5vt69WeYoAHHh7NANy0j3IXUXLVDUNBAeQHVT-~9DLUXk4BcPjFZGFJbBMUqyLw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At a May 12 Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means hearing, officials from the Office of Labor Compliance and Worker Protections presented the office’s proposed FY26 operating budget and showed a new real-time dashboard for monitoring compliance with the Boston Resident Jobs Policy (BRJP).

The presentation matters because the office enforces local labor standards for city-linked construction and service contracts, and the new dashboard is intended to give procurement staff, contractors and the public a clearer, timely view of who is working on city projects.

Deputy Chief Jody Sugarman Brossian told the committee that the office’s proposed FY26 operating budget is roughly $1,000,911.71, “just $55,080 less than FY25,” a change the office attributed to one-time contracted resources that ended and general wage increases. She said about 62% of the office’s budget covers the BRJP office, which includes 10 of the office’s 13 staff.

Sugarman Brossian summarized BRJP’s hiring targets, as described in the office slides: projects must meet standards including that at least 51% of total journey‑worker and apprentice hours go to Boston residents, at least 40% go to people of color and 12% of journey‑worker and 12% of apprentice hours go to women. She cautioned the council that enforcement is carried out through seven compliance measures (for example, payroll reporting and corrective‑action meetings) rather than direct enforcement of those numerical hiring standards alone.

On compliance data, Sugarman Brossian said the office’s new dashboard draws from project payroll and monitoring work and — for the period July 1 through April 22 — shows that 21% of work hours across monitored BRJP projects went to Boston residents, 42% to people of color and 7% to women. “While 7% is low and we have a long way to go to ensuring that women are better represented on construction sites in Boston, it is still significant progress,” she said.

Monique Mitchell, senior program manager for living wage and wage‑theft work, described the living‑wage calculation and compliance work for service contracts. She said the office uses three possible methods to set a living wage and reported the current CPI‑based living wage is $18.20, rising to $18.78 in July. Mitchell said the office monitored roughly 800 contracts in FY25 (about 475 unduplicated vendors) covering more than 10,000 anticipated employees and is working to automate vendor reporting to free staff time for compliance work.

Mitchell also gave wage‑theft statistics: “This past year, we received 33 wage‑theft complaints. 31 of them we forwarded to [the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division]. Five were favorably resolved, returning wages to workers; five are currently open investigations; and three are under review for whether to open an investigation or pursue a private right of action.” She highlighted a recent case referred by the Chinese Progressive Association that led to $36,000 recovered for workers.

The office described training and outreach work: a construction‑safety and demolition ordinance implementation partnership with the Inspectional Services Department that supplies free OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 classes in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole; a webinar series on worker rights in multiple languages; resource clinics where workers can file complaints with state and city partners; and two small‑business trainings planned in late May on wage/hour and immigrant‑worker issues.

Council members asked how the Employment Commission enforces BRJP noncompliance and how procurement staff can use the dashboard; Jody Sugarman Brossian and Monique Mitchell said the dashboard is intended both for internal procurement review and for contractors to vet subcontractors. The office said it is working to add trade‑level filters and to improve cross‑departmental feedback so that noncompliance can inform procurement decisions.

No formal action was taken at the hearing; staff said they will continue to refine the dashboard, expand reporting automation and offer planned trainings and clinics. The office also said it will provide additional data and follow up to council members who requested more detail on compliance and program outcomes.","At a May 12 Ways and Means hearing, the Office of Labor Compliance and Worker Protections presented its FY26 operating budget, described a new Boston Resident Jobs Policy dashboard and gave updates on living wage calculations, wage-theft complaints and worker trainings.","actionData","errors"]

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Corporation Counsel outlines law department budget, pending litigation and federal‑response work

City officials present labor compliance budget, new BRJP dashboard showing 21% Boston resident hours, 7% women