CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
May 6, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Anita D. Gutierrez, City Manager
Submitted By: René Anderson, Human Resources/Risk Management Director SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT TO THE SPECIAL LEGAL COUNSEL PANEL RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
Approve the hourly rate increase for the Law Offices of Jones & Mayer to $250 per hour; and Approve the addition of Graves & King as a dangerous condition of Public Property and employment liability defense counsel; and Approve the addition of Michael Sullivan & Associates as Workers’ Compensation defense counsel; 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 Graves & King will be to provide legal defense for certain dangerous condition and employment liability claims/lawsuits filed against the City of Pomona. Additionally, the proposed addition of Michael Sullivan & Associates will be to provide legal defense on Worker’s Compensation matters. Finally, the law firm of Jones & Mayer has requested an hourly rate increase from $225 per hour to $250 per hour.
SB1439/GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLICABILITY:
☐ When this box is checked, it indicates the agenda item is subject to the Levine Act SB1439 requirements. Councilmembers are reminded to check their campaign contributions and determine whether they have received a campaign contribution of $250 or more that would require disclosure and/or recusal from discussing or acting on this agenda item. Campaign contributions of $250 or more made 1) by any person or entity who is identified in the agenda report as the applicant or proposer or 2) on behalf of the applicant or participant, including a parent, subsidiary or otherwise related business entity, or 3) by any person who has a financial interest in the agenda item requires a councilmember to comply with SB1439.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The costs for legal services have been incorporated in the adopted FY 2023-24 operational budget as self-insurance related expenses are paid by AdminSure from the Self-insurance fund (Fund 668). There are no funding appropriation requests associated with this proposed action. The proposed hourly rate increase for the Law Offices of Jones & Mayer is $250 for partners. The hourly rate for Graves & King Partners will be $250 and the hourly rate for Michael Sullivan and Associates will be $195.
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.
August 7, 2023 – Approved the addition of Hanna Brophy as Workers’ Compensation and Industrial Disability Retirement defense counsel, approved the deletion attorney Robert Gokoo from the approved panel and approved hourly rate increases for Carpenter, Rothans and Dumont, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, and McCune and Harber.
December 4, 2023 – Approved rate increase for The Law Office of Richard Powell 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) provides exception to the formal bidding procedure for specialized legal services; “The city manager or designee shall have the authority to approve, as recommended by the city attorney, specialized legal services agreements relating to current or probable litigation. 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.
Graves & King will offer legal counsel and, if needed, litigation defense to Pomona City staff concerning matters related to dangerous conditions of public property and employment liability. Although we presently engage McCune and Harber law firm predominantly for defense in dangerous conditions of public property cases, incorporating the services of Graves & King provides an additional avenue to manage the workload, thereby expediting the resolution of lawsuits and reducing the burden on McCune and Harber.
Michael Sullivan & Associates will provide the City of Pomona with litigation defense pertaining to Workers’ Compensation claims. With a wealth of experience in managing litigated workers’ compensation cases, Michael Sullivan & Associates is well-equipped to provide comprehensive support in this area. Additionally, integrating their services will offer another channel for handling the workload currently directed to the Law Office of Richard Powell, ultimately lessening the burden and facilitating the closure of claims.
The Law Offices of Jones & Mayer has requested an hourly rate increase for attorneys from $225 per hour to $250 per hour for partners. This is the first hourly rate increase for Pomona in six years. Like most industries, their operating costs have increased dramatically and it is necessary for them to raise their rates. Notably, even with this rate increase, the new rate of $250 per hour falls in line with what is being charged amongst other attorney or firms the City utilizes.
Approval of the proposed action will add Graves & King and Michael Sullivan and Associates to the Special Legal Counsel Panel and grant a rate increase to $250 per hour for the law firms of Jones and Mayer (Attachment 1). The City Attorney has reviewed and approved the addition of both firms to the Special Legal Counsel Panel.
Prepared by: Naela Cansino, Acting Risk Manager
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment No. 1 – Updated Special Legal Counsel Panel
Amendment to Special Legal Counsel Panel