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Mendonca, et al v. City of RiversideCity CouncilFebruary 6, 2024City Attorney's Office RiversideCA.gov2
BACKGROUND•The City Attorney’s Office has an in-house Litigation Divisionthat handles all civil cases filed against the City or any City employee acting in the course and scope of their employment.•Per the City Council’s direction, the City Attorney’s Office has been working diligently to keep litigated cases in-house to reduce the cost of outside counsel. 1 2
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2 RiversideCA.gov3
REDUCTION IN OUTSIDE COUNSEL
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CURRENT LITIGATION CASELOAD BREAKDOWN•74 Civil Litigation Cases •Including 32 high exposure/complex cases. Each with a potential exposure in excess of $3M.Type of Cases No. of Cases Alleged dangerous conditions of public property32Traffic collisions involving City employees10Police/civil rights9Employment8Property damage/trespass5Breach of contract4Subrogation3Injunction2Consumer protection13 4 1/25/2024
3 RiversideCA.gov5
MENDONCA ET AL. V. CITY OF RIVERSIDE The case of Mendonca et al. v. City of Riverside (“Mendonca”) was filedby five (5) City employees who claim:1. Harassment2. Discrimination3. FEHA Retaliation4. Disability Discrimination5. Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodations6. Failure to Take Corrective Action.This case will be complexas each Plaintiff worked in a separate workgroup, which will require dozens of percipient witness depositions.
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DISCUSSIONThe City Attorney's Office Litigation Division has reached their maximum capacity due to existing caseload. Requesting approval to move forward with either: 1) retaining outside counsel to handle this matter or2) hiring five full time equivalent employees for the CAO to handle this and other matters in-house. 5 6 1/25/2024
4 RiversideCA.gov7
•Jennifer Rosner is a partner at Liberty Cassidy Whitmore and is already on the City’s pre-approved panel of outside counsel. Ms. Rosner is an experienced litigator, labor negotiator, and trial attorney representing public and private entities in labor and employment matters. •Ms. Rosner submitted a total proposed budget of $1,078,205, which includes $971,105.00 for attorneys’ fees and $107,100.00 for costs such as court reporters, experts, jury consultants, etc. OPTION #1: RETAIN OUTSIDE COUNSEL RiversideCA.gov8
OPTION #2: HIRING IN-HOUSE COUNSEL•Reallocate existing funds from the Liability Trust Fund Budget, Outside Legal Services Account to increase 5.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions to hire two additional Senior Deputy City Attorneys, one Paralegal, and two Legal Secretaries.•If option 2 is approved, the total fiscal impact for Fiscal Year 2023/24 is approximately $220,855 and for Fiscal Year 2024/25 $662,564. •Approving re-allocation of funds for additional staffing for the City Attorney’s Office would save over $2,000,000 in outside counsel costs(Tonkovich $550K, Griffith $450K, Mendonca $1M) 7 8
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STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
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RECOMMENDATIONSThat the City Council:1. Approve the $1,078,205 budget to retain Jennifer Rosner Partner at LibertyCassidy Whitmore, who is already on the City’s panel of approved outsidecounsel; and authorize the City Attorney to execute the Outside CounselEngagement Letter for their proposed budget; or2. With at least five affirmative votes, authorize an increase in 5.0 Full TimeEquivalent (FTE) positions in the Liability Trust Fund, City Attorney’s Office, andapprove re-allocation of $220,855 from the Liability Trust Fund, Outside LegalServices account to the Liability Trust Fund, Salary and Benefits accounts to hire2 additional Sr. Deputy City Attorneys, 1 Paralegal, and 2 Legal Secretaries tohandle this matter and other matters currently being handled by outsidecounsel. 9 10
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CONCLUSION
Discussion, Questions,& Answers11