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

REPORT

RAPPORT

 

DATE                              23 April 2012

 

TO/DEST.                        Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board

 

FROM/EXP.                    Board Solicitor

 

SUBJECT/OBJET           LEGAL SERVICES STATUS REPORT:  FIRST QUARTER 2012

 

 

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 first quarter of 2012.

 

 

 

 

Ottawa Police Service
2012 First Quarter Costs of Legal Services

 

Item

       Q1               Q2             Q3            Q4

Internal Legal Costs

$66,810          $                  $                $

External Legal Costs

$17,819            

Legal Disbursements

$  5,154               

2012 Total

$89,783           

DISCUSSION

 

2012 Budget

 

The Police Services Board has allocated $313,900 for the provision of legal services in 2012. At the completion of the first quarter, $89,783 or approximately 29% of the budget was spent.  The adjacent chart sets out expenditures for the first quarter (rounded out for space purposes).  The first quarter costs reflect the significant staff time devoted to representing the Board, both at trial as well as at mediations, discoveries and settlement conferences.

 

 

 

Type of Claim

Number

False Arrest

23

Seizure of Personal Property

  0

Breach of Charter of Rights

  5

Personal Injury

  4

Excessive Force/Assault

 11

Malicious Prosecution

  1

Negligence/Negligent Investigation

  5

Vehicle/Property Damage

  2

Trespassing

  1

Perjury

  1

Other

  9

2012 Litigation Claims

 

Three Statements of Claim were received on behalf of the Police Services Board in the first quarter of 2012.  Currently there are 62 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 58 claims are assigned to various in-house Legal Counsel.  Eighteen 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

14

Ontario Human Rights Complaint

10

Other

  2

2012 Labour and Employment Law Matters

 

In addition to the above civil litigation claims, the City Clerk and Solicitor Department is currently managing 28 labour and employment law matters on behalf of the Police Services Board, with four new claims received in the first quarter of 2012.  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 two noteworthy trial successes during the first quarter of 2012.

 

In the last week of January, the case of Lisa Olszewski v. OPSB et al went to trial over the course of five days.  The case concerned an incident that occurred on September 15, 2006.  Ottawa Police officers were attempting to execute an arrest warrant and were then required to keep a town-house secure and under surveillance for several hours. This was to allow time until the tactical unit entered in an effort to arrest a known violent offender.  In the course of the entry, the offender was not found and two pit-bull dogs were killed. 

 

The plaintiff, who was not in the home at the time of the entry, claimed to have suffered post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the death of the dogs, as well as property damage to her home and its contents.  She subsequently brought an action seeking damages in excess of $800,000.

 

The claim was ultimately dismissed in its entirety by the trial judge and the police officers were deemed to have acted reasonably in attempting to execute the search warrant.

 

The plaintiff has filed a Notice of Appeal.  The cost decision was also issued on April 19th and the Board was awarded $25,000.  Steps will be taken to enforce the cost award and the plaintiff will be required to take steps to perfect its appeal.

 

The second notable success is with respect to a claim for $40,000 in general damages and a further $10,000 in punitive damages.  The claim by Velvet Leclair against the Ottawa Police Services Board stemmed from an incident on July 14th, 2007, when she was arrested for obstructing a police officer.  The charge was eventually resolved and Ms. Leclair brought an action alleging sexual assault, harassment, intentional infliction of mental distress, discrimination contrary to the Human Rights Code and negligence. 

 

The matter proceeded to trial on September 12th, 2011 and concluded after five days of evidence and legal argument.  On March 15th, 2012, the presiding Judge issued a decision dismissing all the claims against the police, based on the fact that he had preferred the evidence given by the officers to that of Ms. Leclair.  Ultimately, the Judge found that the officers acted reasonably in the circumstances. 

 

The parties have agreed to costs in the amount of $11,000; however, arrangements for payment have not yet been formalized.

 

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 second quarter report for 2012 will be presented to the Board at its July 2012 meeting.

 

 

(Original signed by)

 

M. Rick O’Connor

Board Solicitor