Los Angeles County was hit by a record number of lawsuits last year, swelling to outside lawyers to protect them from a massive flood of child sexual abuse allegations.
The number of new lawsuits against the county rose to 2,675 last year, according to a tally of legal expenditures released this week. This is the highest number since the county began publicly tracking data in 2008.
The county’s Department of Children and Families Services was most frequently sued in 882 cases, followed by 304 probation and a sheriff’s department, respectively. The probation and family services departments have been hit by thousands of lawsuits in recent years, claiming that they were sexually abused in foster care, probation facilities and former child shelters.
Even with the increase in the number of lawsuits, litigation costs were $220 million for last fiscal year, according to an annual report tracking the county’s legal expenditures from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. It fell sharply to.
That figure was the previous year when the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office agreed to a two-man multi-million dollar settlement due to a 2020 helicopter crash that killed basketball star Kobe Bryant and eight others. showed a 35% decrease.
However, the amount the county paid to outside lawyers increased 18% from the previous year to $75 million. That was almost twice what the county spent four years ago on lawyers.
With several high-value lawsuits out of the way, sheriff’s legal costs have been reduced to just under $100 million from around $150 million two years ago last year. Report.
“We take these issues seriously and continue to strive to minimize the risk of litigation through aggressive and preventative measures,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Tuesday.
Melissa Camacho, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California – representing prison inmates in two class actions against the county – why the Sheriff’s Office budget is 4 billion in light of huge legal costs They questioned whether it rose to the dollar and repeatedly sued.
The department said, “There is no incentive to fire agents who assault our community members. If the county passes legal costs over $100 million without demanding a penny from the LASD budget, it will cause a horrible car accident.” She told the Times. “The Board of Supervisors needs to take LASD to be responsible for changes in behavior and not just write checks.”
The district attorney’s office was the second-most costatire county agency, surpassing $24 million last year, after a six-fold increase driven primarily by lawsuits alleging false prosecution last year.
Distinguishing. Atty. Nathan Hochman took office in December after these cases were resolved. His office declined to comment.
Many of the cases mentioned in the county’s legal expenditure reports included cases that occurred long ago. For example, the report includes a county $3 million settlement with Samuel Bonner, who was falsely convicted of the 1982 murder in Long Beach.
Of the $220 million the county spent on lawsuits, more than $124 million was spent on settlements and court decisions.
The county advisory office said in a statement that the increase in external legal expenditures was partly spent on rising lawyer fees and about $5 million defending last year’s sexual abuse cases.
The county has been struck by more than 2,600 lawsuits, including more than 6,600 plaintiffs, as state lawmakers granted a new window to victims of childhood sexual abuse in 2020.
County officials previously said they had contracted with 11 law firms to handle the claims, many of whom said they could not be investigated because they had no relevant records.
The county counsel office said in a statement.
“The public has the right to know how public funds are being used. Whether it’s outside of lawyers, consultants, you’ll name it,” he said. said David Roy, legal director for the First Amendment Coalition.
Last year’s biggest county payment was a $24 million settlement with John Clenn and Eduardo Danbrick. He was illegally convicted of murder as a teenager, and spent more than 20 years behind the bar based on what his lawyer later described as “lie” and “making up.” evidence. ”
Another mass settlement came from a lawsuit filed in 2010 over a strip search for a woman in a prison.
In 2019, the court approved a $53 million payment on behalf of 87,937 women who had been searched over 420,000 times in nine years starting in 2008. Last year was the third installment payment in three installments.
The sheriff’s department stopped halting regular searches for female inmates when it began relying on body scanners six years after the lawsuit was filed.
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