OTTAWA POLICE SERVICES BOARD

COMMISSION DE SERVICES POLICIERS D’OTTAWA

 

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REPORT

RAPPORT

 

DATE                              15 February 2012

 

TO/DEST.                        Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board

 

FROM/EXP.                    Board Solicitor

 

SUBJECT/OBJET           LEGAL SERVICES STATUS REPORT - 2011 FOURTH QUARTER

 

 

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 fourth quarter of 2011.

 

 

 

Ottawa Police Service
2011 Fourth Quarter Costs of Legal Services

 

Item

       Q1               Q2             Q3            Q4

Internal Legal Costs

$70,525           $53,155       $78,015     $ 55,005

External Legal Costs

$ 2,523            $12,253       $29,517     $ 62,006

Legal Disbursements

$ 1,721            $     891       $  3,905     $  7,324

2011 Total

$74,769           $66,299        $111,437  $124,335

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 fourth quarter, $376,840 or approximately     120% of the budget was spent.  The over-expenditure is a result of the number of matters that were concluded in 2011 (i.e. 22) and the complexity of the files which are with external law firms.  The adjacent chart sets out expenditures for the fourth quarter (rounded out for space purposes).  

 

 

 

Type of Claim

Number

False Arrest

27

Seizure of Personal Property

  0

Breach of Charter of Rights

  5

Personal Injury

  4

Excessive Force/Assault

 13

Malicious Prosecution

  2

Negligence/Negligent Investigation

  5

Vehicle/Property Damage

  2

Trespassing

  1

Perjury

  1

Other

 9

2011 Litigation Claims

 

Three Statements of Claim were received on behalf of the Police Services Board in the fourth quarter of 2011.  Currently there are 69 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 65 claims are assigned to various in-house Legal Counsel.  Thirteen 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. 

 

Type of Matter

Number

Termination

  2

Workplace Safety & Insurance Board

13

Ontario Human Rights Complaint

10

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 26 labour and employment law matters on behalf of the Police Services Board, with no new claims received in the fourth quarter of 2011.  The adjacent list sets out the number of current labour and employment law matters by category or type.  All of the labour and employment law matters are assigned to in-house Legal Counsel.

 

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

 

There were no significant issues to report from the fourth 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 first quarter report for 2012 will be presented to the Board at its April 2012 meeting.

 

 

(Original signed by)

 

M. Rick O’Connor

Board Solicitor