x ,
CITY MANAGER
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE D BY
FROM: OFFICE F THE CITY
Y: ANIL H. GANDHY, DIRECTOR1 / IT if
SUBJECT:
SERVICES AGREEMENT
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council authorize the Mayor to approve a requested rate change for Legal Services between the City and the law firm, Lawrence, Beach, Allen & Choi
DISCUSSION
Lawrence, Beach, Allen & Choi has been one of the Cit's most utilized firms that offers variety of legal services as they pertain to civil litigation matters. The original contract for which this agreement will amend was datedSeptember 30, 2014.
The current range of hourly rates for legal services is based on the following hourly rates: $175.00 per hour for Partners; $150 per hour for Associates; Law Clerks/Paralegals. The new blended rate will 0 per hour. These rates shall remain in effect until further notice or when which Attorneymay review its hourly rates and, if appropriate, adjust rates. Attorney will provide the City with written notification any adjustment in the range of rates.
The City would like to continue to utilize their services, therefore, approval of new blended rate is necessary.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Fiscal Responsibility
IMPACTFISCAL
Funding is included in fiscal year 2 -3 Budget.
ATTACHMENTS
Exhibit : Original Agreement
Exhibit : Amendment
r
LEGAL SE 0 F! V A L
THIS LEGAL I T ("Agreement") is entered it this
_ d of September, 2014, by and between the CITY,
California municipal corporation and chs r city (hereinafter referred t i'") and the LAWRENCE, BEACH, ALLENI, a Californiar. i t
Corporation er i er referred to as the "Firm") n llec iv l referred t herein as the "Parties".
THEREFORE, the partiesr r mutually re
follows:
aection 1.
Firm ill represent ; its employees in civil litigation matters and suchl mattersassigned the Firmit. it representation will
continue under the terms of this r' ent up to and through trial, settlement, arbitration, f iss 1, judgment r any other final resolution of the case. The scope it 's engagement will not include issues pertaining to any other matter, post judgment motions, appeals, r any other post judgment issues, unlessapproved by both Pa i
action al. _ IIIiProcedures,
Professional time is billedin increments f 1/1 th of an hour. Block billingwill not be accepted. Legal services should be adequately descri a as follows:
Date the serviceswere rendered;
Description f services;
Identity of the person(s) rendering isdescribed;
Rate at which the person(s) rendering e services is billedu; "Amount of time expended by each person r the services described; Calculatedfor that particular billing
The total amount ai date.
The Firm's charges for legal serves areon tfollowing°hourly rates:
$175 per hour for Partners;per hour for Associates; La
Clerks/Paralegals. Firm agrees to follow any litigation man e n licies and procedures it r its RiskPool, a copyis shall be providedFirm.
Firm shall submit o City an invoice which shall itemize the services rendered the costs advanced duringh illinperiod'and the amount due. Wi i fifteen (1) business daysf receipt f each"invoice, it shall notify Firm in writingf any disputed` amounts included on the invoice. Within thirty O calendar s of receipt of each invoice, City shall pay all undisputed amoun included
EXHIBIT A
d
8 ,
invoice. i shall not withhold applicablex r other deductions paymentsmade to Firm.
ae_ction 3. Costs is n s'.
Firm may incur certain sts and expensesCity' lf, Firm will obtain consent r incurring any cost in excessf $150. Firm shall include the actual (without mark-up) r costs and expensesthe City'sbilling invoice. cosh and expensesthat Firm will bill City for include,t are not limited to process servers, fees fixedlaw or assessed by courts r agencies, court reporters' fees, long distancecalls, messenger and other delivery fees, °postage, ar in , investigation x n s, and expertwitness fees. Mileage shall be billed at the IRS approvedrate and in -office photocopyingfacsimiles shall illy t no more than .10 cents per page, and other similar items. City shall not pay for expenses such as staffovertime, r roc ssin special publications r attendance at continuing legal education seminars. .Section . _ onr" I 'jbiliflet of Attorn&V and Client.
Firm will provide servicesf the type described above, and will keep City informed of the progress and timely respond to City's inquiries. City will provide Firm withsuch factual information and materials as Firm may require r e services, and Firmill make such professional or technical decisions determinations asare appropriate for the matter.
ec io 5 lac r a i ra I
City may discharge Firmat anytime for any reason. In addition, it is understood that Firm may terminate its legal services n i r`w from this engagement with City's consent r for good cause. Good cause includes n r c f this Agreement, failure to pay Firm'sfees and other charges promptly, refusal cooperate it it r refusal to followFirm' vic n a material matter or any other fact r circumstance that would render er it continuing representation unlawful or unethical.
In the event, it engagement i terminated r reason, it ill continue be obligatedfor Fir 's services
is s . other charges incurred for the
termination date.
Lion . Insurance-.
Firm shall maintain the following insurance cover e
a. Workers'Compensation Coverage. Firm` shall maintain Workers' CompensationInsurance and Employer'sLiability ur c for his/her employees i accordance it the laws of the Statef California.
2 0
b. General Lia ili Coverage.
Firm shall maintain commercial general
liability insurance in an amount not less than one million dollars( r occurrence for bodily injury, personal injury nd property damage.
G. Automobile Liability verage. Firm shall maintain automobile liability insurance covering ily injury r e for all activities of the it arising out of or ci n with the worke r e er this Agreement, including coverage r owned, hired andnon-owned icls, in an amount"of not less than one million dollars (1, ) combined i l limit f r each occurrence. d. Professional Liability Coe it ' l maintain professional. errors n omissions liability insurance for protectionagainst . claims alleging negligentacts, errors t romissions services'ch may e arise
ir r ri' es' crs services subcontractors, Agreement,
Y its
u consult ns. T amounti insuranceU tl t one million illi Il r ( 1, n a claims -made annual aggregate basis, or a combined i le-li it per occurrence b
e. Policy Endorsements. Each general liability n automobile liability insurance li all be withinsurers s i rating f no less ll and shall be endorsedit the following 'specific language:
-i. The CityDowney, its electedr appointed officers,
officials, employees, agents_ and volunteersare to be covered additional insureds with respect to liability arising out of work performed by r on behalf of the Firm, including ri 1, parts or equipment furnished in connection isuch or r operations. ii. This policyshall be considered ri insurance as
respects the City, its electedr appointed is rs, officials, employees, ens and volunteers.y insurance mai twine
the City, ilding any self-insuredretention the City,
shall be considered s insurance only and shall not contribute with i.
iii. This insurance all act for'each 'isure ii "I
insured ou separate policy hadn written for each,
except with respect to the limits of liability of the insuring company. i. Any failureto comply it reporting r visions of the policies ail not affect coverage rvide to the City, is elected or appointed officers, officials, employees,agents rvolunteers.
V. The insurance provided this policy shall not be
suspended, voided, canceled, r reduced in coverage or in limits
except r thirty ) days written notices been received
city.
. Deductibles andif I s et n ions. Any deductibles or self -insured retentions t be declaredr the City.the City'soption, it shall demonstrate financial capability r payment of such deductibles or self-insure retentions.
9. certificates lfr s Insurance it I provide
f insurance nce 'it ri' in I endorsements to City as evidencef the insurance coverage required er in: Certificates of such insurance shall be filediCity on r before commencement f performance of this Agreement. Current certification insurance all be kept on filei the Cityt all times during the term of this Agreement.
action . r itr do .
In any disputearising t of, or related , this Agreement shall be resolved binding r irti arbitrator mutually agreed u_ o the Parties. In the eventthe Parties cannot agree, each Party shall choose r itr r, and those two arbitrators shall then select a single neutral arbitrator who will heart e dispute, Discovery for this bindingarbitration shell e limited to that hic i allowed in California Courts of limited jurisdiction, including Il rights and remedies thereunder. The arbitrationshall take lac in the Countyof Los Angeles, unless otherwise is' agreed upon in writing.a shall bear it s own
attorneys'fees and costs.
5%ction 8. giurvival-
In
the event that any provision of this r e t is deemed to be illegal r unenforceable, such determination shall not affect the validity or enforceability the remaining r vi io hereof, all of whichit remain in full force andeffect. §je_cUon 9. ClienLDocuMents.
Firm ill maintain all documents Cityfurnishes to Firmin its client files maintained fr the matter. At the conclusion of thematter (r earlier, i appropriate), i h ll advise Firms to which, if any, of the documents in Firm's file City wishesreturned to City. Firm may keepcopies reo to the extent necessary for 'ir ' records.
ct! 1 . Aa91gEM§bL Firm may not assign, transfer, convey, pledge r otherwise dispose of its rights or obligations hereunder, without prior written consent of
4 ecti n 11.Ent! rLAqreement.
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the Parties concerning --the engagementdescribed in paragraph1. It supersedes all prior agreements and understandings, r r oral, and no representation by the Parties, written r oral, are binding unlessexpressly stated in thisAgreement. This Agreement may e modified only in a writingsigned II Parties tot is Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Agreement has been duly authorized executed the Parties hereton the day and year first herein above written.
City of a n
Y®
Fernando as ue , Mayor
rY Clerk
A)V&UL APPROVED AS TO FORM:
iAttorney
Lawrence each, Allen & Choi
avid Lawrence
Its: r si ant
5 LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
AMENDMENTTHIS No.-1 ("Amendment . 1") is entered into this 27th day o September, Q22, by and betweenthe CITYCaliforniaunici al corporation charter city ("City") with its principal place of businessat 1111 Brookshire Avenue, Downey, CA 90241 and LAWRENCE, BEACH, ALLENI, California r r do ("Consultant") with its principal place of business150 South Los Robles Avenue,Suite , Pasadena,91101. City and Consultantr sometimes individually referred to as " and collectively as the "Parti ".
City onsultant entered into a Legal Services Agreement
("Agreement") on September 30, 2014, for legal services as more specifically descri in the Agreement;
WHEREAS, the parties desire o make certain ns to the Agreements set forth in this Amendment No. 1; and
WHEREAS, the Parties intend o be boundy the terms and provisions of the Agreement as it is amended herein.
NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the mutual covenants n conditions herein contained, the Parties agree as follows:
_Section 1.
A. City and Consultant hereby end the second paragraph in Section 2 of the Agreement to read as follows:
"The current range of hourly rates for legal services are basedon the following hourly rates: $175.00 per hour forPartners; $150 per hour for Associates; Law Clerks/Paralegals. The new blendedrate will be $250 per hour, effective to r 1, 2022. Attorneyill apply these rates on new matters originating after September 1, . All matters originating prior to the effective ate of this Agreementwill be billed Attorney's 2014rates until completion. Firm agrees to follow any litigation t procedures of Cityr its Risk Pool, a copy of which shall be provided to Firm." Section 2. The rights, obligations and fees of the Parties under the Agreement shall not otherwise a amended, altered or revised c s expressly providedfor herein n II other terms of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.
Section . This Amendment may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which, together, shall constitute one and the same instrument.
AMENDMENT,TO EFFECTUATE THIS the Parties have caused their duly authorized representatives to execute this Amendment to the Agreementon the dates set forth below.