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REQUEST FOR <br />COUNCIL ACTION <br />CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: <br />APRIL 18, 2017 <br />TITLE: <br />AGREEMENT FOR SPECIAL LEGAL COUNSEL <br />SERVICES WITH CARPENTER, ROTHANS & <br />DUMONT FOR POLICE LITIGATION DEFENSE <br />SERVICES <br />(STRAGIC PLAN NO. 1, 3, 4, 5) <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY: <br />APPROVED <br />❑ As Recommended <br />❑ As Amended <br />❑ Ordinance on 1" Reading <br />❑ Ordinance on 2n° Reading <br />❑ Implementing Resolution <br />❑ Set Public Hearing For_ <br />CONTINUED TO <br />FILE NUMBER <br />Authorize the City Manager and the Clerk of the Council to execute a three (3) year agreement, <br />effective April 18, 2017 through April 17, 2020 for a not to exceed amount of three million dollars <br />($3,000,000) with the law firm Carpenter, Rothans & Dumont for police litigation defense services <br />subject to non - substantive changes approved by the City Manager and the City Attorney. <br />DISCUSSION <br />Since November 21, 2006, the law firm of Carpenter Rothans & Dumont has provided special <br />legal counsel services to the City. The firm, headquartered in Los Angeles, specializes primarily <br />in police litigation defense services in both federal and state court with an emphasis on civil rights <br />matters involving public safety employees. Mr. Rothans, one of the founding partners of the firm <br />who has practiced law for over thirty years, frequently serves as a Judge Pro Tern and <br />specializes in defending police officers in complex civil rights, police practices, and wrongful <br />death lawsuits involving allegations of excessive force. The attorneys at the firm are known for <br />their tenacity, knowledge of the law, and attention to detail. Mr. Rothans, along with several other <br />partners at the firm won defense verdicts in two police civil liability matters for the City of Santa <br />Ana, (Cody Hernandez v. City of Santa Ana and Ignacio Leon v. City of Santa Ana). Both cases <br />involved allegations that Santa Ana police officers used excessive force and violated the <br />plaintiffs' civil rights. Many of the partners at the firm have argued before both the California <br />Supreme Court and the Nine Circuit Court of Appeals and have successful defending numerous <br />cities and their police departments throughout Southern California including Anaheim, Fullerton, <br />Pomona and the City of Hawthorne. The firm has provided consistently good service at a <br />competitive rate. <br />This latest contract includes a modest increase for a newly blended rate for partners and <br />associates of $200 an hour. This rate remains below standard industry rates for public entity <br />25A -1 <br />