South Coast Air Quality Management District

Appropriate $100,000 from Undesignated Fund Balance and Establish List of Prequalified Legal Counsel to Represent the AQMD in General Liability Matters

SYNOPSIS: 

On September 21, 2001, the Board approved issuance of an RFP to prequalify outside legal counsel having expertise in handling general liability matters, primarily automobile accidents. This action is to establish a list of pre-qualified counsel to advise and represent the AQMD in general liability litigation and to appropriate $100,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to cover unexpected increases in expenditures for liability representation.

COMMITTEE: 

Administrative, November 16, 2001, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Appropriate $100,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to the FY 2001-02 Budget, Services and Supplies Major Object, Insurance account for liability representation.
   
   
2. Approve the firms (a) Gutierrez, Preciado & House, (b) Thever & Associates, (c) Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt, (d) Dunbar & Associates, and (e) Jackson & Associates as pre-qualified law firms having expertise in general liability litigation that District Counsel may need to represent the AQMD in possible future litigation and advice.
   
   
3. Authorize the Chairman (or Executive Officer for contracts up to $50,000) to execute contracts with each of the above firms as the need arises for a combined total for all three firms not to exceed $250,000 for a three-year period.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

In October of 1999, the Board approved contracts for up to three years with two firms having expertise in handling general liability matters and authorized the Executive Officer to make annual expenditures up to $50,000 for a three-year total of up to $150,000. The AQMD entered into two-year contracts that will conclude on December 31, 2001. At the September 21, 2001 Board meeting, the Board authorized issuing an RFP to hire liability counsel when the current contracts conclude. As with the earlier contracts, the Board authorized annual expenditures of $50,000 a year for a three-year total of $150,000.

Because of an unexpected increase in litigation costs, the budgeted amount will not meet anticipated expenses. The unexpected increase in costs is due to the recently and successfully concluded jury trial Huntington vs. SCAQMD and to ongoing litigation in a major liability matter that has previously been discussed with the Board in closed session. It is expected that expenses on these matters will require an additional amount of up to $100,000 this fiscal year. To fund this increase, it will be necessary to appropriate $100,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to the Insurance account in this year's budget.

Consequently, staff is requesting authorization to contract for a total of up to $250,000 for three years. Even though the current authorization by the Board to hire general liability counsel extends to October 2002, this request, and the request for additional funding is necessitated by a major ongoing general-liability lawsuit. For future litigation, a rapid response is needed in such situations, and it is not possible to go through the RFP process as new cases arise. Establishing a pre-qualified list ensures that AQMD can respond to current claims and quickly select counsel for future representation as needed.

In accordance with the AQMD’s Contracting and Purchasing Policy, a separate Public Notice inviting bids for the RFP was published in the following publications:
 

1.	Antelope Valley Press	12.	La Prensa Hispana	23.	Rafu Shimpo
2.	Black Voice News	13.	La Voz	24.	Press Enterprise
3.	Chinese Daily News	14.	Los Angeles Daily News	25.	San Bernardino Sun
4.	Eastern Group Publications	15.	Los Angeles Sentinel	26.	Santa Clarita Signal
5.	El Chicano	16.	Los Angeles Times	27.	State of California Contract
6.	El Informador	17.	M/W/DVBE Source	28.	Register
7.	Excelsior, The	18.	Orange County Register	29.	Wave Publications
8.	Inland Empire Hispanic News	19.	Palm Springs Desert Sun	30.	State of California Contracts
9.	Inland Valley Daily Bulletin	20.	Orange County Register	31.	Register
10.	Korea Central Daily	21.	Philippine News
11.	La Opinion	22.	Precinct Reporter

Additionally, potential bidders were identified and copies of the RFP were mailed to the African-American and Latino Legislative Caucuses and interested minority contractors/professional associations, in particular, forty-nine minority bar associations; vendors listed in Los Angeles County’s Directory of Certified Minority, Women, Disadvantaged and Disabled Veterans Business Enterprises; the Directory of Certified Firms published by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority; The Inland Area Opportunity Pages Ethnic/Women Business & Professional Directory; the AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors; and the Purchasing mailing list. Further, the RFP was placed on the AQMD’s Internet web-page [http://www.aqmd.gov, "Business and Job Opportunities" icon] and bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909)396-2724.

Bid responses for the General Liability RFP were received from twelve law firms or sole practitioners. A summary of the responses is provided in Attachment A. The evaluation panel consisted of three AQMD employees (two attorneys and one risk management analyst; one female and two male; one African-American and two Caucasian.)

Proposal

Establish a list for the AQMD, valid through December 31, 2004, of pre-qualified outside counsel having expertise in personal injury and general tort-liability litigation, consisting of the five top-scoring firms: Gutierrez, Preciado & House, Thever & Associates, Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt; Dunbar & Associates; and Jackson & Associates. Also, authorize the Executive Officer or Board Chairman, as appropriate, to execute contracts with one or more of these firms, in a combined amount of no more than $250,000 over three years.

Resource Impacts

The recommended total budget amount for liability counsel is $250,000 over a three-year period, all of which may be allocated to one or more selected contractors as the need arises based on current or future litigation, the availability of counsel, and the needs of the AQMD. With this action, sufficient funds for the first year are available in the FY 2001-02 Budget, as supplemented by the $100,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance being approved as part of this action. Remaining funding for subsequent years will be dependent on future budgets.

Attachment

A. Summary of Responses

ATTACHMENT A
SUMMARY OF RESPONSES
 

* Points awarded in this category only for firms with 56 or more technical points.
   (RFP Section VI.B.2.)

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