Local Lawsuits Cost Taxpayers Over $26 million

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. – California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) today released a report finding eight of California’s largest cities and nine of its largest counties spent $504.1 million to deal with lawsuits over two fiscal years.

CALA looked at monies spent on verdicts, settlements and outside counsel in fiscal years 2007 and 2008 for the counties of: Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Clara and the cities of: Anaheim, Bakersfield, Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Jose.

“California has 58 counties and 480 cities, so this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Tom Scott, CALA Executive Director. “With devastating budget cuts hitting cities and counties up and down the state, there are countless other ways this money could have been spent.”

The County of Alameda spent $11.9 million in verdicts, settlements and outside counsel in these fiscal years and the City of Oakland spent $14.9 million during this time. Not only are these costs outrageous in their own right, Alameda County’s spending in litigation costs in one year could have funded the Independent Living Skills Program, which serves 1,400 foster youth, and nearly all of the Women, Infant & Children Program which gives over 17,000 families nutritional vouchers and information monthly.

Oakland could have funded the entire Police Department’s Port Security program, which provides public safety services, traffic safety and law enforcement in and around Oakland’s airport and seaport, and the addition of 21 part-time recreation staff to support after-school programs.

Earlier this year the City of Oakland paid $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a man shot and paralyzed by police while robbing a church. 

“Oakland is already working proactively to curb its litigation costs,” said Marko Mlikotin, CALA Northern California Regional Director. “But it’s still hard to watch so many taxpayer dollars go toward lawsuits when important programs such as the Oakland Gang Task Force, which was the topic of the Discovery television series ‘Oakland Gang Wars,’ are being disbanded.” 

The information compiled in the report came from public information requests of the localities. CALA released a similar report two years ago finding that three cities and four counties spent more than $276 million in litigation costs for fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

“Citizens of California deserve to know where their tax dollars are going. Budget shortfalls don’t just affect those who might lose their jobs or services they rely on, the effects ripple to the entire community and beyond,” Scott said. “That’s why 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 plaintiffs’ attorneys.”

The report can be found in its entirety here.

California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to educating the public about the negative effects of lawsuit abuse and challenging those who abuse our legal system for personal gain.