OTTAWA POLICE SERVICES BOARD

COMMISSION DE SERVICES POLICIERS D’OTTAWA

The Trusted Leader in Policing

Le chef de file de confiance dans la police

REPORT

RAPPORT

DATE 24 February 2014

TO/DEST. Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board

FROM/EXP. Board Solicitor

SUBJECT/OBJET LEGAL SERVICES STATUS REPORT - 2013 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:

positive and negative variances against the approved budget;
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;
the number, cost and outcome of all appeals and applications for judicial review;
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 2013.

Ottawa Police Service 2013 Fourth Quarter Costs of Legal Services
Item	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Internal Costs	$74,876 $ 67,200 $86,875 $91,125
External Costs	$ 2,902 $ 84,953 $78,286 $18,403
Disbursements	$ 4,471 $ 4,625 $ 3,579 $ 3,007
2013 Total	$82,249 $156,778 $168,740 $112,535

DISCUSSION

2013 Budget

The Police Services Board has allocated $328,900 for the provision of legal services in 2013 – an increase of $15K over 2012. At the completion of the fourth quarter $530,302 or approximately 158% of the budget was spent. The adjacent chart sets out expenditures for the entire year to date (rounded out for space purposes). The costs reflect the significant staff time devoted to representing the Board, both at trial as well as at mediations, discoveries and settlement conferences. A significant portion of the legal expenditures for 2013 can be attributed to civil litigation, notably the preparation for a scheduled two-week trial that was ultimately concluded by way of a confidential settlement immediately prior to the commencement of the hearing.


Type of Claim	Number
Breach of Charter Rights	2
Breach of Contract	1
Error and Omission	1
Excessive Force/Assault	13
False Arrest	17
Family Law Act	1
Malicious Prosecution	4
Motor Vehicle Accident	5
Negligence/Negligent Investigation	9
Personal Injury	6
Property Damage	1
Seizure of Personal Property	1
Trespassing	1

2013 Litigation Claims

Three Statements of Claim were received on behalf of the Police Services Board in the fourth quarter of 2013. 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. The adjacent list sets out the number of current litigated claims by category or type. Beginning in Q1 2013, Legal Services started including motor vehicle accident claims involving police vehicles within its quarterly report to the Police Services Board. Though the City of Ottawa, as registered owner of those vehicles, is frequently named or included as a party in those claims, in keeping with the accident insurance scheme in Ontario, the inclusion of motor vehicle accident claims within the quarterly reports will provide a more accurate summary of all outstanding litigation affecting the Board.

2013 Non-Litigated Claims

During the fourth quarter of 2013, thirteen new claims were received by the Claims Unit. Of these claims, three were denied and closed, two were paid and closed, five remain open, and two are open and have become litigation.

The following chart reflects the total number of claims currently open involving the Ottawa Police Services Board, as of the end of the fourth quarter 2013. As of January 2^nd, there were thirteen open non-litigated claims: one City Vehicle Hitting Pedestrian/Cyclist – Accident Benefits (AB) claim, one City Vehicle Hitting Pedestrian/Cyclist – No AB claim, one Damage/Injuries – Arrest/Detainment claim, one Injury from City Animals claim, one claim for Loss/Damage Third Property in our Care Custody and Control, three MVA, Accident Benefit (AB) claims, one MVA, City and Third Party Vehicle – No AB claim, one claim with no known City involvement, one Police Pursuits – No AB claim, and two Third Party Property Damage/Loss claims.

All Open Claims - Police Services - As of January 2, 2014
Claim Type	Number of Claims
City Vehicle Hitting Pedestrian/Cyclist – AB	1
City Vehicle Hitting Pedestrian/Cyclist – No AB	1
Damage/Injuries - Arrest/Detainment	1
Injuries from City Animals	1
Loss/Damage TP Property in our CCC	1
MVA, Accident Benefits – AB	3
MVA, City and Third Party Vehicle - No AB	1
No Known City Involvement	1
Police Pursuits – No AB	1
TP Property Damage/Loss (Limited Use)	2
Total Number of Open Claims - Police Services	13

TP = Third Party; MVA = Motor Vehicle Accident; AB = Accident Benefits; BI/PD = Bodily Injury/Property Damage

During the fourth quarter of 2013, six claims were closed by the Claims Unit. Of these claims, four were denied and two were paid.

A total of 29 non-litigated claims have been closed for the year-to-date at the end of the fourth quarter, with a total of $8,612.54 paid out in compensation. Below is the summary for number of claims and amount paid for each claim type.

Closed Police Services Claims Date Closed Between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013 As of January 2, 2014

Claim Type	Number of Claims	Paid Sum
Damage/Injuries – Arrest/Detainment	1	$0.00
Falling Ice, Snow, Debris – Third Party BI/PD	1	$300.00
Loss Involving Police Property Room	2	$500.00
Losses Due to Other Alleged City Involvement	1	$120.00
Property Damage – Forced Entry By Police	12	$1,356.01
Third Party Property Damage From Employee Actions	2	$0.00
Third Party Property Damage/Loss (Limited Use)	2	$783.37
Third Party Property Damage By Contracted Veh/Equip.	1	$0.00
Vehicle Towing/Impounding	7	$5,553.16
Total - Closed Police Services Claims	29	$8,612.54

Type of Matter	Number
Termination	2
Workplace Safety & Insurance Board	17
Ontario Human Rights Complaint	21
Other	14

2013 Labour and Employment Law Matters

In addition to the above civil litigation claims, the City Clerk and Solicitor Department is currently managing 54 labour and employment law matters on behalf of the Police Services Board, with one new claim received in the fourth quarter of 2013. 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 in the fourth quarter of 2013.

CONSULTATION

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

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

As presented in this report.

CONCLUSION

It is anticipated that 2014 first quarter report will be presented to the Board at its April 2014 meeting.

(original signed by)

M. Rick O’Connor

Board Solicitor