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Council approves short-term outside counsel contract tied to DOJ consent-decree litigation
Summary
The City Attorney's office described a short-term contract for outside counsel to manage anticipated intervention motions in federal litigation tied to a Department of Justice consent decree; council authorized the contract and fund transfer (clerk recorded 9 ayes, 1 no).
The Los Angeles City Council authorized the city attorney to retain short-term outside counsel to help handle expected intervention motions in federal litigation related to a Department of Justice consent decree.
City Attorney staff explained the contract is expected to be short term (about six months) and is intended to secure specialized litigation resources to expedite and respond to intervention motions that could complicate or delay implementation of a consent decree. The city attorney’s report said outside counsel expenditures historically approached $5,000,000 a year, the current year’s budget for outside counsel is $3,000,000, and the office sought an immediate appropriation of $150,000 with a planned request for an additional $350,000 next week; the report estimated about $1,800,000 would remain in the outside counsel fund after those appropriations.
City Attorney staff recommended appointing attorney Patty Glaser (outside counsel) because of her prior experience with similar consent-decree litigation. Councilmember Takowski recommended approval and a motion authorizing the city attorney to enter the legal services contract passed on the roll with the clerk recording 9 ayes and 1 no.
