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COUNTY OF SAN MATEO
Inter-Departmental Correspondence
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County Counsel
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DATE:
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August 2, 2005
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BOARD MEETING DATE:
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August 16, 2005
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SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:
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None
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VOTE REQUIRED:
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Majority
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TO:
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Honorable Board of Supervisors
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FROM:
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Thomas F. Casey III, County Counsel
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SUBJECT:
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Agreement With Outside Counsel—Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
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RECOMMENDATION:
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1. Adopt a resolution authorizing the execution of an Agreement with Liebert, Cassidy and Whitmore to provide legal advice to the San Mateo County Sheriff in personnel matters in which the County Counsel has a conflict, in an amount not to exceed $25,000.00.
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2. Waive the RFP process for the selection of the contractor.
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BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
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The County of San Mateo and several employees of the Sheriff’s Office have been sued by inmate Robert James, who alleges that he was beaten in the course of a “cell extraction.”
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Several weeks after he filed the lawsuit, Mr. James committed suicide in the jail. However, the plaintiff’s death does not necessarily terminate the lawsuit. A deceased plaintiff’s heirs have 90 days from the date of service of a “Notice of Plaintiff’s Death” to request permission to sue on the deceased plaintiff’s behalf. Therefore, the lawsuit cannot be dismissed before October 9.
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The Sheriff is conducting an internal affairs investigation into the incident, and would benefit from legal counsel. While normally our office would advise the Sheriff’s Office in the internal affairs investigation, the County Counsel already represents the Sheriff’s employees in the federal civil lawsuit brought by Mr. James, as is required by statute. Advising the Sheriff on the investigation and prosecuting resulting disciplinary action, if any, would be a direct conflict of interest for County Counsel.
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We recommend that the Sheriff be authorized to retain Liebert Cassidy Whitmore as outside “conflict counsel” to handle legal issues resulting from the internal affairs investigation.
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A waiver of the RFP process is appropriate as the attorneys in this firm have recently advised the Sheriff in internal affairs matters, and are uniquely qualified to provide this service. The attorney who will be working with the Sheriff is the former President of the San Francisco Civil Service Commission and has a great deal of experience defending discipline by police agencies.
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FISCAL IMPACT:
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The contract is not to exceed $25,000, although it is anticipated that the pending matter would be resolved for significantly less than that. The year long agreement will permit the Sheriff to consult with outside counsel in the event conflict occur during the coming year.
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