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Corporation Counsel warns of rising litigation costs, FOIL backlog and staffing pressure
Summary
Utica's corporation counsel described higher outside counsel and expert witness expenses, a large FOIL backlog and recruitment pressures for attorneys, saying those trends are driving legal budget increases.
Bill Borrell, the citycorporation counsel, told council members his office is facing rising costs from outside counsel, expert witnesses and increased litigation complexity.
Borrell and first assistant Zach Roar said the office has increased spending on contracted services and outside counsel because of complex post-COVID litigation and the need for expert witnesses. Roar gave a concrete example: “Ispent $18,000 in experts on that case,” describing a vehicle stop that involved a non-compliant passenger and a taser deployment. Borrell said the office has already spent about $90,000 in outside counsel this year and expects more as cases progress.
The counseloffice also reported staffing and workload strains: staff handle FOIL requests, codes enforcement work, contract reviews and trial preparation alongside round-the-clock inquiries from other officials. The office reported 93 open FOILs; the FOIL coordinator estimates some requests can take a month to month-and-a-half of full-time work to complete.
Borrell said attorneys are being recruited away by higher-paying public and private employers, and that paying outside counsel to cover conflicts or specialized matters drives contracted-services costs higher. He and Roar urged raising salary lines to retain attorneys; Roar described the difficulty of trial prep while lawyers also manage many other duties.
Why it matters: Rising litigation and FOIL costs are a citywide budget pressure that can force transfers from other services if not controlled. The cost of defending police-action cases and other personnel matters is a recurring budget item.
Additional details: Borrell said the office has nine attorneys (three full-time, six part-time) on its roster and multiple support vacancies. Roar said expert-witness fees are a major driver of contracted-services increases, especially in police cases that require professional explanation of officersactions. Borrell and Roar said the office is taking some matters back in-house (tax foreclosures, Irish Cultural Center); that work raises near-term in-house workloads but can reduce outside-counsel expense later.
Ending: Council members thanked the counseloffice and asked to keep the issue visible in budget deliberations.
