The Los Angeles Daily News published an op-ed by CALA Chair David Houston titled, "An encouraging response to county ligitation costs." He said:

"How about some good news for a change? In the midst of all the financial challenges facing government, this past month a report was issued showing Los Angeles County reduced its litigation costs. County leaders should be applauded for the considerable decrease in the amount of money spent on litigation and settlements.

"A recent report by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse found eight of California's largest cities and nine of its largest counties spent more than half a billion dollars in verdicts, settlements and outside counsel in just two fiscal years.

"All five Los Angeles County supervisors strongly support curbing legal costs, especially those that result from unwarranted litigation. With the urging of Supervisor Gloria Molina, Los Angeles County went one step further to initiate litigation cost controls that formed a Litigation Exposure Reduction Committee in which county lawyers guide managers on avoiding legal costs and cases. The county also appointed a full-time litigation manager, Steven Estabrook, to efficiently control disposition of litigation cases and reduce the number of unnecessary and baseless lawsuits. As a result, the county has seen its legal costs drop from a record high of $114 million to $105 million in the last fiscal year alone. Legal settlements were reduced from $40 million to $27 million over the same period."

Click here to read the complete commentary.