Bill Text: CA AB2804 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Cities and counties: legal services: contingency fee contracts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AB2804 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2804-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2804 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brown
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Section 50035 to the Government Code, relating to
local government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2804, as introduced, Brown. Cities and counties: legal
services: contingency fee contracts.
Existing law authorizes a city to hire a city attorney or a county
to hire a county counsel for the representation of the city or
county in legal matters.
This bill would require a city council or the board of supervisors
of a county to, prior to entering into a contingency fee contract
for legal services relating to civil litigation initiated by the city
or county, make a determination that use of a contingency fee
contract would be cost-effective and in the public interest. The bill
would require this determination to be supported by specified
findings and would require any contract entered into by the city or
county for legal services on a contingency fee basis under these
provisions to meet specified requirements and would provide that any
contingency fee shall be calculated on the basis of the judgment
amount excluding any award for fine, civil penalty, or punitive
damages.
The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the
purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies
and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a
statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public
records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the
enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this
purpose.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 50035 is added to the Government Code, to read:
50035. (a) Prior to entering into a contingency fee contract for
legal services relating to civil litigation initiated by the
legislative body, the legislative body shall make a determination
that use of a contingency fee contract would be cost effective and in
the public interest. In making this determination, the legislative
body shall make written findings in support of using a contingency
fee contract. These findings shall include, but are not limited to,
the following:
(1) Whether the existing legal and financial resources within the
city attorney or county counsel's office would be sufficient to
handle the matter.
(2) The time and labor required, the novelty, complexity, and
difficult of the questions involved, and the skill requisite to
perform the attorney services properly.
(3) The geographic area where the attorney services are to be
provided.
(4) The amount of experience desired for the particular type of
attorney services to be provided and the nature of the contract
attorney's experience with similar issues or cases.
(b) After making the determination and findings required by
subdivision (a), the legislative body shall draft and prominently
post on the city or county's Internet Web site a written request for
proposals to represent the city or county on a contingency fee basis.
(c) Any contingency fee contract shall include the following
provisions:
(1) The lead attorney within the office of the city attorney or
county counsel who is assigned to the matter, or the legislative body
if the city or county does not have one, shall retain complete
control over the course and conduct of the case.
(2) An attorney within the office of the city attorney or county
counsel who has supervisory authority, or the legislative body if the
city or county does not have one, shall be personally involved in
the oversight of the litigation.
(3) The lead attorney within the office of the city attorney or
county counsel assigned to the matter, or the legislative body if the
city or county does not have one, shall retain the authority to
reject any decisions made by the contracted attorney.
(4) Any defendant that is the subject of litigation may contact
the lead attorney within the city attorney or county counsel's office
directly, or the legislative body if the city or county does not
have one, without having to confer with the contracted attorney.
(5) An attorney within the office of the city attorney or county
counsel who has supervisory authority, or the legislative body if the
city or county does not have one, shall attend all formal or
informal settlement conferences.
(6) All decisions regarding settlement of the matter shall be
exclusively reserved to the discretion of the lead attorney within
the office of the city attorney or county counsel, or the legislative
body if the city or county does not have one.
(7) The contracted attorney shall provide the city attorney or
county counsel, or the legislative body if the city or county does
not have one, a written status report on at least a monthly basis
that includes a description of any significant court hearings,
conferences, motions, or discovery and sets forth the anticipated
legal strategy for the following month.
(d) (1) A copy of any executed contingency fee contract for legal
services shall be prominently posted on the city or county's internet
Web site for public inspection within five days after the date the
contract is executed and shall remain posted on the Web site for the
duration of the matter.
(2) Any payment of a contingency fee pursuant to a contingency fee
contract for legal services shall be prominently posted on the city
attorney or county counsel's Internet Web site within 15 days
following the payment to the attorney or law firm and shall remain
posted on the Internet Web site for at least one year following the
issuance of the payment.
(e) The calculation of a contingency fee shall not include any
portion of the judgment that is attributable to a fine, civil
penalty, or punitive damages.
(f) Any private attorney or firm under contract to provide legal
services to a legislative body pursuant to a contingency fee contract
shall maintain detailed records of their services including, but not
limited to, records of all expenses, disbursements, charges,
credits, invoices, and hours billed or worked under the contract by
the private attorney or paralegal in increments no greater than 1/10
of an hour. These records shall be maintained by the legislative body
for at least four years from the conclusion of the contract. These
records shall be available for inspection under the California Public
Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division
7 of Title 1), subject to any redaction authorized by that act.
(g) This section shall not be construed to expand the authority of
any local agency to enter into a contract for legal services where
no authority previously existed.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this
act, which adds Section 50035 to the Government Code, furthers,
within the meaning of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3
of Article I of the California Constitution, the purposes of that
constitutional section as it relates to the right of public access to
the meetings of local public bodies or the writings of local public
officials and local agencies. Pursuant to paragraph (7) of
subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California
Constitution, the Legislature makes the following findings:
It is in the public interest for contracts entered into by a city
or county for legal services based on a contingency fee to be open
and transparent, therefor, this act would further the purposes of
Section 3 of Article 1 of the California Constitution.
