AUDIT COMMITTEE SUMMARY
May 15, 2018
Audit of the City Attorney's Outside Legal Counsel Expenditures
Report Issued November 9, 2017
Audit Objective
Determine if outside legal expenditures are properly authorized and properly supported.
Background
The City Attorney's Office (CAO) performs a wide variety of legal services including prosecuting misdemeanor offenses, defending the City in civil lawsuits, and preparing the many required agreements, legal documents, and ordinances for the City.
The litigation division of the CAO represents and defends the City in civil lawsuits such as motor vehicle accidents & civil rights violations. Additionally, lawyers in this division file civil lawsuits to protect the City's interests and enforce the City's contracts and regulations. There are occasions, however, where it is necessary to engage outside counsel on certain matters. These occasions fall into two categories which are transactional and litigation.
Outside legal counsel for transactional matters is utilized if the matter requires expertise in a specific field. Outside legal counsel for litigation matters is engaged to avoid a potential conflict of interest by having the City Attorney's Office represent one of the City's employees. The City Attorney's Office utilizes the ProLaw system to maintain all documents, invoices, recordings, and case notes. Outside legal counsel expenditures were approximately $2,360,000 for fiscal year 2016.
Audit Scope and Methodology
The audit scope was from October 1, 2014 through April 2017. We reviewed CAO case monitoring processes and procedures. We reviewed a sample of cases to determine if reporting requirements, invoice review and approval, and charges were compliant with the Outside Legal Guidelines. We also reviewed the ProLaw system for appropriate user access.
Audit Conclusions
Expenditures for outside legal counsel are not properly authorized or properly supported.
We identified overpayment of hourly rates and paym...
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