Committee advances multiple settlements and asks law department to brief on reverse-conviction exposure

Committee members moved a series of settlement and indemnification items to formal session with recommendations to approve and asked the law department for further briefings on high-exposure reverse-conviction matters.

Graham Anderson of the law department told the committee that the city faces significant exposure on reverse-conviction claims, sometimes resulting in seven-figure settlement demands and juries awarding large sums in other jurisdictions. "These are massively high-risk exposure cases," Anderson said, noting the difficulty of resolving matters that arose a decade or more ago and the frequent need to settle to avoid multi-million-dollar jury awards.

The committee approved advancing a number of settlements and indemnification requests to formal session (workers’ compensation and civil settlements listed on the agenda) and voted to bring one item back for clarification where the written packet showed inconsistent amounts. For one pending request where law and DPD recommended denial of representation for a retired investigator, the law department asked for a closed session to discuss the matter; the committee approved scheduling a closed session at a later date.

Member Scott Benson requested the law department provide a written explanation for any denial recommendations. Benson also urged the committee to receive regular risk-management reports tracking settlements and litigation exposure; law confirmed a quarterly risk-management report exists and agreed to present to the committee.

Next steps: Several settlement items will move to the full council with recommendations to approve; the law department will prepare a memo explaining the denial recommendation for the personnel indemnification matter and the chair will schedule a closed session to consider it.