City Council

(9)\n26-0040\nPERSONNEL AND HIRING and BUDGET AND FINANCE\nCOMMITTEES’ REPORTS relative to a comprehensive staffing plan\nfor the Office of the City Attorney with detailed current and projected\nstaffing needs that is designed to significantly reduce the City’s\nreliance on outside counsel costs.\nA. PERSONNEL AND HIRING COMMITTEE REPORT\nRecommendations for Council action, pursuant to Motion\n(McOsker, Yaroslavsky – Jurado):\n1. REQUEST the City Attorney, with assistance from the City\nAdministrative Officer (CAO), Personnel Department, the\nCity Attorneys Association, and other relevant bargaining\ngroups, to report to the Budget and Finance Committee\nand the Personnel and Hiring Committee with the\nfollowing:\na. A comprehensive staffing plan for the Office of the\nCity Attorney that details current and projected\nstaffing needs and is designed to significantly reduce\nthe City’s reliance on outside counsel costs. The\nplan should include:\ni. The number of new positions required across\nlitigation, advisory, and specialized units, and\nthe respective recommended class codes and\njob classifications.\nii. The proposed salary ranges and\ncompensation adjustments needed to remain\ncompetitive for the positions and class\ncodes/classifications.\niii. Recruitment timelines, hiring strategies, and\nany Civil Service or Council action required, as\nwell as budgetary steps required to achieve\nthe staffing plan.\niv. The projected fiscal impacts and long-term\nsavings associated with shifting work from\noutside counsel to in-house legal teams.\nb. General hiring barriers affecting the recruitment and\nretention of qualified attorneys.\nc. Workload impacts on litigation, advisory, and\nmunicipal law functions.\nd. Budgetary, structural, or policy changes needed to\nensure the Office of the City Attorney is adequately\nstaffed to meet the legal needs of the City of Los\nAngeles.\n2. REQUEST the City Attorney, CAO, and the Personnel\nDepartment to report on and provide relevant data and\nrecommendations to include and build upon issues raised\nin prior Council actions (specifically Council File No. 25-\n1023) concerning City Attorney staffing, workload, reliance\non outside counsel, and hiring capacity.\nB. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT\nRecommendations for Council action, as initiated by Motion\n(McOsker, Yaroslavsky – Jurado):\n1. REQUEST the City Attorney, with assistance from the City\nAdministrative Officer (CAO), Personnel Department, the\nCity Attorneys Association, and other relevant bargaining\ngroups, to report to the Budget and Finance Committee\nand the Personnel and Hiring Committee with the\nfollowing:\na. A comprehensive staffing plan for the Office of the\nCity Attorney that details current and projected\nstaffing needs and is designed to significantly reduce\nthe City’s reliance on outside counsel costs. The\nplan should include:\n​\ni. The number of new positions required across\nlitigation, advisory, and specialized units, and\nthe respective recommended class codes and\njob classifications.\nii. The\nproposed\nsalary\nranges\nand\ncompensation adjustments needed to remain\ncompetitive for the positions and class\ncodes/classifications.\niii. Recruitment timelines, hiring strategies, and\nany Civil Service or Council action required, as\nwell as budgetary steps required to achieve\nthe staffing plan.\niv. The projected fiscal impacts and long-term\nsavings associated with shifting work from\noutside counsel to in-house legal teams.\nb. General hiring barriers affecting the recruitment and\nretention of qualified attorneys.\nc. Workload impacts on litigation, advisory, and\nmunicipal law functions.\nd. Budgetary, structural, or policy changes needed to\nensure the Office of the City Attorney is adequately\nstaffed to meet the legal needs of the City of Los\nAngeles.\n2. REQUEST the City Attorney to include in its subsequent\nreport an assessment of adequate staffing needs to\nensure an expedited process of review for judgments that\naccrue interest, to ensure they are before the Claims\nBoard and then the Budget and Finance Committee within\n30 days.\n3. REQUEST the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) to advise\non any required changes, including legislative action\nthrough the Los Angeles Municipal Code or Los Angeles\nAdministrative Code, or by way of codification in the City’s\nFinancial Policies, to ensure the enforcement of the 30-\nday timeline for judgments that accrue interest.\nFiscal Impact Statement: Neither the CAO nor the CLA has completed\na financial analysis of this report.