Resolution No. 6083
1
RESOLUTION NO. 6083
2
5
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF VERNON APPROVING AND ADOPTING A LITIGATION
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
MODEL LITIGATION MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES
RECOMMENDED BY THE INDEPENDENT CITIES RISK
MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (ICRMA) FOR THE
MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION
3
4
6
7
WHEREAS, the City of Vernon is a member of the
8 Independent cities Risk Management Authority (ICRMA); and
9
WHEREAS, one of the purposes of ICRMA is to 10wer costs
10 for its members by recommending various approaches to risk
11 management; and
12
WHEREAS, ICRMA has recommended adoption of a personal
13 injury litigation management program as a method of controlling
14 legal expenses associated with personal injury lawsuits and of
15 obtaining the best services from defense counsel; and
16
WHEREAS, the ICRMA Governing Board has adopted model
17 personal injury litigation management guidelines for such a
18 program; and
19
WHEREAS, a Litigation Management Program has been
20 prepared which follows the ICRMA guidelines.
21
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
22 CITY OF VERNON AS FOLLOWS:
23
SECTION 1: The City Council of the City of Vernon hereby
24 finds and determines that the recitals contained hereinabove are
25 true and correct.
26
SECTION 2: The City Council of the City of Vernon hereby
27 approves and adopts the Litigation Management Program, a copy of
28 which has been presented to the City Council concurrently with this
"
1 resolution, and the City Council hereby orders said Program to be
2 received and filed by the City Clerk.
3
SECTION 3: The City Clerk of the City of Vernon shall
4 certify to the passage of this resolution, and thereupon and
5 thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
6
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 7th day of April, 1992.
7
8
~ . -~
c:. . . ,
.~~~ ,'-(.. .
LEONIS c. ~M~
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
-2-
1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) ss
2 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )
3 I, BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, ci ty Clerk of the ci ty of
4 Vernon, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution, being
5 Resolution No. 6083, was duly adopted by the City Council of the
6 City of Vernon at a regular meeting of the City Council duly held
7 on Tuesday, April 7, 1992, and thereafter was duly signed by the
8 Mayor of the City of Vernon.
9
10
11
12
d--~
BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk
(SEAL)
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
-3-
CITY OF VERNON
PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
I. DEFENSE COUNSEL
A. Selection. Defense counsel for each case shall be
selected by: 1) the City of Vernon (hereinafter "City")
after consultation with its claims adjustor; or 2) the
City claims adjuster after consultation with the city.
The selection shall be based on the nature and complexity
of the case, the experience and ability of the attorney,
as well as other relevant factors.
B. Terms. Prior to appointment in any litigation, potential
defense counsel shall provide the following to the city:
1. The names of other professionals (partners,
associates, law clerks, paralegals, etc.) who will
assist in the defense of the case. The hourly rate
and functions to be performed by each professional
shall also be provided.
2. Within five (5) days of receipt of the file, the
attorney shal1 review the file and provide written
verification:
a. That he/she has the requisite ability to
handle the matter;
b. That he/she will have the time available to
properly represent the insureds, including
preparation and attendance at all depositions,
hearings and trial;
c. That he/she will comply with the City'S
policies and procedures relating to litigation
(including billing procedures); and
d. That the attorney and law firm to which he/she
belongs have no ethical or legal conflicts
that would disqualify him/her from
representing the City in the pending
litigation.
II. CASE ANALYSIS, STRATEGY AND BUDGET
Within thirty (30) days following receipt of a case, defense
counsel shall prepare and send to the City and its claims
adjustor all of the following:
A. Analysis. A comprehensive written analysis of the case.
This analysis shall provide the ini tial evaluation of the
case, including a brief synopsis of the facts of the
case, an analysis of plaintiff's injuries, damages and
exposures in the case, and identification of the
strengths and weaknesses of the case. Counsel shall also
provide an initial impression of liability and identify
the pertinent statutes and/or case law that may affect
the outcome of the litigation.
B. Investigation. Defense counsel shall identify and
addi tional information or documentation that is needed to
disprove the plaintiff's claims or to establish defenses
in the action . Whenever possible, this investigation and
information-gathering shall be done by the City's claims
adjustor or the City.
C. strategy. Defense counsel shall define the strategy to
be used in defending each lawsuit, including:
1. The anticipated course of action to be taken and
prospect for success (i.e. motion to dismiss,
motion for summary judgment, negotiated settlement,
trial, etc.).
2. The facts or elements which must be proved or
disproved and the discovery necessary to establish
these defenses or proof.
3. The timing of the discovery, filing of motions,
negotiations or other objectives.
4. A description of how the work will be distributed
among those who will be working on the case.
5. The tactics to be used in defending the case and
the advantages to be gained by use of these
tactics.
D. Budget. Defense counsel will also provide an estimate of
the anticipated cost of each significant aspect of the
litigation, including:
1. Discovery/Litigation expenses up to trial
2. Outside expert expenses through trial
3. Trial expenses.
III. COMMUNICATION
A. correspondence
and
pleadings.
Copies
of
all
- 2 -
correspondence and pleadings shall be promptly provided
by defense counsel to the City and its claims adjustor
and to each of the defendants represented by said
counsel. Defense counsel will promptly respond to all
letters or phone calls and will keep the City and its
claims adjustor fully advised of the progress in each
case.
B. Depositions and hearing. Depositions wil1 be scheduled
by defense counsel to permit the attendance of a
representative of the ci ty as well as each of the
defendants represented by said counsel. Immediately upon
receipt, notice of all hearings shall be sent by defense
counsel to the City and to each defendant to allow them
to attend the hearing.
c. Evaluations. Upon request and at such other times as
deemed necessary, defense counsel shal1 provide written
or oral evaluations of the litigation. These evaluations
shall disclose any weaknesses or strengths that have been
discovered, any changes in applicable statutes or case
law, any increase or decrease in anticipated costs, and
the potential liability and settlement value of the case.
These evaluations should be as straight-forward and as
objective as possible to al10w the City and its claims
adjustor to meaningfully analyze the case and to
determine the course of action to be taken.
IV. SETTLEMENT AUTHORITY
Defense counsel shall not settle any lawsuit or make a
settlement offer in any amount without prior authorization of
the City.
V. LEGAL BILLINGS
All bills for legal services and costs shall be submitted at
least quarterly. Fees and costs shall be billed at the rates
previously agreed upon. All bills shall state with
particularity the legal work performed, the hours expended to
perform the work and the costs incurred. Attorneys submitting
the bills for paYment are responsible for the content of the
bills and will work with the City and its claims adjustor to
resolve problems or answer questions.
Legal fees will not be paid unless submitted in the following
format:
Each legal activity will be dated and itemized (mUltiple
daily descriptive explanations of activities with a
single time entry is not acceptable).
- 3 -
The initials of the attorney who completed the itemized
tasks must be included with the entry.
The amount of time to complete the task must be broken
down into tenths of hours.
The rates charged by each attorney working on the case
must be summarized with the amount of hours to depict a
cost per attorney.
VI. TRIAL REPORT
At the conclusion of all trials, a brief summary trial report
should be directed to the City and its claims adjustor
outlining the trial results.
VII. FINAL REPORTS
At the conclusion of the case, a short summary report should
be directed to the City and its claims adjustor. Original
closing papers and the final billing should be attached.
Within ninety (90) days following the termination of each
lawsuit, the City will review the file to determine compliance
with the City's guidelines and the strategy and budget
developed for the case. If appropriate, a meeting will be
arranged to discuss perceived problems and/or ways to improve
defense of City claims.
- 4 -