Let's play law school. I'll be Professor Kingsfield. You be the class.
In the private sector, you can simply fire your lawyer. It's not as though there aren't nine bazillion other lawyers out there, ready to step in.
But what happens if your attorney is the City Attorney? Uh-oh. You can't just fire him, can you? You have to wait for an election.
Turns out, this is not a hypothetical question, after all. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who is running to become District Attorney Carmen Trutanich, apparently has some very unhappy clients. Not only has the City Council opted to start relying more on outside law firms, but, according to the Los Angeles Dragnet Blog, the firefighters aren't exactly thrilled, either.
In fairness to Trutanich, it's not as though he got to hire his staff. Rather, the City's civil service system dictated that he work with the people already employed by the City Attorney's Office. But in fairness to them, he's in charge. If some of them aren't living up to the standard of care, it's his job to make sure they do so or show them the door.
Speaking of the door, off I go. I'm working on a case against Safeco Insurance for bad faith and unfair competition, where I'm both the attorney and the client, and, I must say, I am delighted with my attorney's work. (For more about that, visit SafecoLitigation.com.)
He couldn't fire anyone in his department if he wanted to. I am sure they have all been receiving glowing annual reviews for years.
ReplyDeleteIt's like the school teacher who passes a crappy student on to the next level because they don't want to deal with it.
It's city government and it's been that way forever.....
Good article Walter.
It is true that Trutanich cannot easily fire under-performing attorneys. What he can do is allocate the resources of his office. That's his job. Sure there are complaints of budget cuts, but as the previous comment notes, nobody has been fired. We all have to make do with less, and Trutanich either is not able to do that, or unaware of the problems in his office. Either way, it's a very damning indictment of his leadership. I had my doubts about Trutanich, and they seem to be well founded. He is all talk and no action. In other words, a typical Los Angeles career politician.
ReplyDeleteLike I always say: CARMEN "GAGA" TRUTANICH IS A ONE TERM POLITICAL FAILURE! He caved in 3 days into his ONE TERM and has let the herd of rats run that office. But let's not forget "Gaga's" ultimate faux pas: Giving Curt Livesay a friggin $205,000 a year "consulting" "contract" We the schmucks (the voters/homeowners) pay year after year. So "Gaga" is trying to run to the D.A.'s job? HA HA HA--GA-GA-GAGA!
ReplyDeleteBudget reductions and now threatened furloughs of Deputy City Attorneys will continue to take tolls on the City Attorneys' office, since the LA City Attorney's Association turned down the latest reshuffling of the City's same contract that they voted "NO" on in April 26, 2011. I don't blame Trutanich for wanting to "abandon ship" and seek the DA position. The City Attorneys office went sour after the Mayor threatened to reduce even more of their budget, even though the City Attorney is an elected position.
ReplyDeleteThe current situation is a testament to the incompetence of our City's leadership and lack of understanding as to how our City government was designed to function.
Everyone has to cope with budget reductions; both the public and private sector. But this case has nothing to do with budget issues and everything to do with poor leadership. What we see here is that the Fire Commission needed legal advice from Trutanich in 2009, six months after he took office. Instead of making sure the needs of the Fire Commission were met, Truanich was too busy chasing headlines over the Michael Jackson memorial, threatening to arrest people, and generally behaving like a bully and a thug. Trutanich promised a 90 day turn around on requests for legal advice, but it took more like 180 days before an opinion was given, and when it was given it was inconsistent with previous advice, and as Erwin Chemerinsky stated, it was WRONG ADVICE.
ReplyDeleteTrutanich's media whore antics has cost the reputation and respect for the City Attorney far more than the millions he wasted on witch hunts. He has given the City Council every possible reason to now be fully justified in going to outside counsel for proper advice, and should be left to handle the minor cases like petty thefts and speeding tickets. It is all he is capable of.