Litigation costs siphon funding from sheriffs, libraries, parks

(Los Angeles, CA) – In the past two years, taxpayers in Los Angeles have spent more than $100 million on lawsuit settlements and awards and outside counsel in a bonanza for personal injury lawyers who seem to be increasingly viewing taxpayers as their next big meal ticket. The result is fewer dollars for needs like first responders, law enforcement, parks and libraries. The findings were issued today in a report by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

“When local governments are the subject of frivolous lawsuits, it is the taxpayers who pay,” said Peter Bylsma, executive director of Los Angeles Citizens Against Lawsuits Abuse.

“The tax that Los Angelinos are paying to fund litigation against the city and county is enormous,” said Bylsma. “These funds could be going to much more important things, such as sheriffs, police officers and firefighters. Instead, personal injury lawyers are lining their pockets with our money.”

According to recent budget documents, the amount Los Angeles taxpayers spent on litigation costs could have funded:

• 561 Los Angeles County Sheriffs, including equipment, supplies, salaries and benefits;
• Almost two automated fingerprint ID systems for the entire Sheriff’s Department at a cost of $34 million each;
• More than one-half of the city’s total expenditures on libraries in 2006; or
• One-quarter of the 2006 operating budget for the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

The information compiled in the report came from public information requests of the localities.

“Citizens of the Los Angeles area deserve to know where their tax dollars are going,” said Bylsma. “That’s why LA CALA is calling for greater disclosure, more public oversight and adoption of aggressive risk management procedures to protect our local government coffers from the greedy hands of personal injury lawyers.”

To that end, a handful of government officials in the Los Angeles area have taken note of the waste that frivolous lawsuits cause.

“We commend Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and County Supervisors Gloria Molina and Mike Antonovich for their recent support of policies to reduce the effect that lawsuit abuse has on our city and county budgets,” Bylsma said.

The full report is available here.