OTTAWA
POLICE SERVICES BOARD COMMISSION DE
SERVICES POLICIERS D’OTTAWA |
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Working together for a safer community La sécurité de notre communauté, un travail
d’équipe |
MEMORANDUM NOTE DE SERVICE
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DATE 18 October 2011
TO/DEST. Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board
FROM/EXP. Board Solicitor
SUBJECT/OBJET LEGAL
SERVICES REPORT - THIRD QUARTER 2011
RECOMMENDATION
The City Clerk and Solicitor Department is a full-service, in-house law practice that provides a broad range of services to the Police Services Board in the areas of civil litigation, labour and employment law, procedural and general legal advice, corporate/commercial/development and environmental law. The Department’s objective is to achieve this through the most cost-effective and efficient combination of both in-house and external lawyers. In this latter regard, the Department has a Strategic Standing Offer (SSO) with two law firms for the provision of external legal services. The new SSO was negotiated for the period 2011-2014 and provides for very favourable, blended hourly rates set for the duration of the four-year term.
Pursuant to Section 6.1 of Board Policy #GA-8 – Legal Services, the Board Solicitor shall submit a report to the Board on a quarterly basis that includes statistical information and concise analysis of trends on:
In compliance with Section 6.1, this report provides the requested information with respect to the third quarter of 2011.
Ottawa Police Service
2011 Third Quarter Costs of Legal Services |
|
Item |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 |
Internal Legal Costs |
$70,525 $53,155 $78,015 |
External Legal Costs |
$ 2,523 $12,253 $29,517 |
Legal Disbursements |
$ 1,721 $ 891
$ 3,905 |
2011 Total |
$74,769 $66,299 $111,437 |
DISCUSSION
The Police Services Board has allocated $313,900 for the provision of legal services in 2011 – being a $6,100 reduction from the budget allocated for previous years. At the completion of the third quarter, $252,503.93 or approximately 80% of the budget was spent. The adjacent chart sets out expenditures for the third quarter (rounded out for space purposes).
|
|
Type of Claim |
Number |
False Arrest |
31 |
Seizure of Personal Property |
0 |
Breach of Charter of Rights |
6 |
Personal Injury |
5 |
Excessive Force/Assault |
15 |
Malicious Prosecution |
2 |
Negligence/Negligent Investigation |
5 |
Property Damage |
0 |
Trespassing |
1 |
Perjury |
0 |
Other |
12 |
2011 Litigation Claims
Eight Statements of Claim were received on behalf of the Police Services Board in the third quarter of 2011. Currently there are 75 outstanding claims/notices of claim against the Board. Four of those claims are with external legal counsel as directed by the Board’s insurer or due to the requirement for a specialized legal expertise. The remaining 71 claims are assigned to various in-house Legal Counsel. Nineteen claims are at the mediation stage and/or are awaiting Settlement Conference dates. The adjacent list sets out the number of current litigated claims by category or type.
On August 4, 2011, the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario issued an Order declaring a claim “to be frivolous and vexatious within the meaning of Rule 21.01(3)(d)” and dismissed the action. The Plaintiff is prohibited from advancing the claim without the leave of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Type of Matter |
Number |
Termination |
4 |
Workplace Safety & Insurance Board |
17 |
Ontario Human Rights Complaint |
15 |
Other |
1 |
2011 Labour and Employment Law Matters
In addition to the above civil litigation claims, the City Clerk and Solicitor Department is currently managing 37 labour and employment law matters on behalf of the Police Services Board, three of which were received in the second quarter of 2011. The adjacent list sets out the number of current labour and employment law matters by category or type. Two of the labour and employment law matters have been outsourced, with the remaining 35 matters assigned to in-house Legal Counsel.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
There were no significant issues to report from the third quarter of 2011.
As this report was administrative in nature, consultation was not required.
As
presented in this report.
It is anticipated that the fourth quarter report will be presented to the Board at its February 2012 meeting.
(Original signed by)
M. Rick O’Connor
Board Solicitor