CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
August 7, 2023
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: James Makshanoff, City Manager
Submitted By: René Anderson, Human Resources/Risk Management Director SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY’S SPECIAL LEGAL COUNSEL PANEL RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
Approve the addition of Hanna Brophy as Workers’ Compensation and Industrial Disability Retirement defense counsel; and Approve the deletion of premises liability and dangerous condition of public property Attorney Robert Gokoo from the Special Legal Counsel Panel; and Approve hourly rate increases for Carpenter, Rothans and Dumont, and McCune and Harber to $250 per hour, and Liebert Cassidy Whitmore to $425 per hour; and Authorize the City Manager to execute retainer agreements with the requested firms.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Special Legal Counsel Panel is comprised of attorneys and law firms that have been selected for placement on the panel based on the attorneys’ or law firms’ background and qualifications in a specialty area of law, such as Police liability, dangerous condition of public property, environmental challenges, Water rights, eminent domain, and other areas as needed. The proposed addition of Hanna Brophy will be to provide legal defense for certain Industrial Disability Retirement claims filed against the City of Pomona. Additionally, the law firms of McCune and Harber, as well as, Carpenter, Rothans and Dumont have requested hourly rate increases from $200 and $185 per hour to $250 per hour; and Liebert Cassidy Whitmore has increased their hourly rate to $425 per hour. Finally, attorney Robert Gokoo has retired from the practice of law and as such, litigation will no longer be referred to the Law Office of Robert Gokoo and deletion from the Special Legal Counsel Panel is appropriate.
FISCAL IMPACT: The costs for legal services have been incorporated in the adopted FY 2023-24 General Fund, Human Resources Department budget (101-0701-52323-00000) and self-insurance related expenses are paid by AdminSure from the self-insurance fund. There are no funding appropriation requests associated with this proposed action. The proposed hourly rate for Hanna Brophy is $250 per hour for partners and $225 for associates.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
November 21, 2005 – Approved Legal Counsel Referral Policy.
September 22, 2006 – Approved Special Legal Counsel Panel pursuant to the Legal Counsel Referral Policy.
November 20, 2006 – Approved addition of Davis & Associates.
November 10, 2007 – Approved addition of Byrn & Nixon; Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg; Lightfood, Vandevelde, Sadowskt, Rouchley, Rutherford & Levine; Connor, Fletcher, & Williams; Jackson, DeMarco, Tidus & Peckenpaugh; Fullbright & Jawarski and Resolution Law Group..
November 17, 2008 – Approved addition of Lister, Martin & Thompson and Dorey & Horelly.
February 27, 2012 – Approved rate increase for Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) and Dapeer Rosenblit & Litvak.
July 21, 2014 – Approved addition of Lagerlof, Sencal, Gosney & Kruse, LLP and rate increase for McCune & Haber and LCW.
July 18, 2016 – Approved deletion of firms no longer used, the addition of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP and Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Rudd & Roma, and a rate increase for LCW.
March 5, 2018 – Approved the addition of the law firms of Jones and Mayer; Cooksey, Toolen, Gage, Duffy & Woog; Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley; Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Ruth and the Law Office of Linda L. Daube and a rate increase for McCune & Harber.
May 21, 2018 – Approved the addition of Lozano Smith.
December 17, 2018 – Approved the addition of the Law Office of Robert Gokoo and a rate increase of Lagerlof, Senecal, Gosnevy & Kruse LLP.
July 15, 2019 – Approved rate increase for Liebert Cassidy Whitmore and removed Rutan and Tucker from the Panel.
May 18, 2020 – Approved addition of conflict counsel Ring Binder and Smith Law Offices LLP.
December 7, 2020 – Approved the addition of workers’ compensation insurance coverage counsel S. Henslee Smith.
November 15, 2021 – Approved the addition of Talley and Talley as legal counsel for the Pomona Police Oversight Commission and Hanson Bridget, LLC as an employment investigator and deleted workers’ compensation defense firm of Bradford and Barthel.
DISCUSSION: Pomona City Charter Section 703 provides that “…[t]he City Attorney shall serve as the chief legal advisor to the Council, the City Manager, and all City departments and appointed bodies, and shall have the authority to represent the City in all civil and criminal matters…” When specialized legal services are required, Pomona City Code (PCC) Section 2-993.2(7) exempts procurement of specialized legal services from the bidding process. On November 21, 2005, the City Council approved the Legal Counsel Referral Policy, which sets forth a procedure for utilizing outside counsel when expertise is required in specialized areas of law. The initial panel of attorneys and law firms was approved by the City Council in 2006 and has subsequently been updated and approved by the Council as shown above.
Hanna Brophy will provide City staff with legal guidance and if necessary, litigation defense to the City of Pomona in the area of Industrial Disability Retirements (IDR). While most IDR claims are approved by City staff, there is a very small percentage of those claims that should be challenged. Hanna Brophy has extensive experience in handling these IDR claims. Further, CalPERS recently has amended the requirements for IDR claims and Hanna Brophy will be a valuable asset to advise staff in handling these matters.
McCune and Harber, and Carpenter, Rothans and Dumont, have both requested hourly rate increases. Currently, McCune and Harbor’s hourly rate is $200 per hour while Carpenter, Rothans and Dumont’s hourly rate is $185. Due to rising costs of doing business (rents, overhead expenses, etc.) and attorney retention, both firms are requesting an hourly rate increase to $250 per hour. It is noteworthy that at the current time, Pomona is being charged the lowest hourly rate of any of the clients for both McCune and Harber and Carpenter, Rothans and Dumont. Liebert Cassidy Whitmore provide assistance on Labor Relations matters and represents the City on legal matters involving sworn personnel.
The Law Offices of Robert Gokoo should be deleted from the Special Legal Counsel Panel. Mr. Gokoo provided legal services in the areas of automobile liability and premises liability litigation. As Mr. Gokoo has retired from practicing law this removal is appropriate.
Approval of the proposed action will add Hanna Brophy to the Special Legal Counsel Panel, grant a rate increase to $250 per hour for the law firms of McCune and Harber and Carpenter, Rothans and Dumont and remove the Law Offices of Robert Gokoo from the Special Legal Counsel Panel (Attachment 1).
Prepared by: Chris Millard, Risk Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment No. 1 – Updated Special Legal Counsel Panel
Amendment to Special Legal Counsel Panel