OTTAWA POLICE SERVICES BOARD

COMMISSION DE SERVICES POLICIERS D’OTTAWA

 

Working together for a safer community

La sécurité de notre communauté, un travail d’équipe

MEMORANDUM

NOTE DE SERVICE

 

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

 

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

 

BACKGROUND

 

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:

 

  1. positive and negative variances against the approved budget;
  2. all claims or actions filed against the Board including how many have been filed, how many are outstanding, how many have been settled, the nature of them (categorized by type), and the cost of settlements;
  3. the number, cost and outcome of all appeals and applications for judicial review;
  4. any issues of significance the Board should be advised of.

 

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

 

2011 Budget

 

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.

 

CONSULTATION

 

As this report was administrative in nature, consultation was not required.

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

 

As presented in this report.

 

CONCLUSION

 

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