Lawyers Hiring Lawyers

The city of Los Angeles spent $18.9 million on outside legal assistance last year, and two-thirds of the law firms receiving contracts had donated to the political campaigns of Mayor James K. Hahn, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo or both. This analysis of campaign finance data, reported in Sunday’s Times by Patrick McGreevy, raises a big red flag, and not just because of the ongoing county and federal investigations into city contracting practices.

Hahn and Delgadillo adamantly deny any connection between contracts and contributors, even though the city approved or expanded some contracts (what a coincidence!) mere weeks after the firms held fundraisers.

It’s notoriously hard to prove pay-to-play allegations -- that contracts or other favors were traded for political donations -- unless an explicit quid pro quo agreement is unearthed. Money, after all, permeates politics, and it is naive to view big contributions as mere expressions of support rather than attempts to win influence. But the public still expects politicians to avoid blatant conflicts of interest. It’s shocking to see how many of the contracts now at issue were awarded or extended without competitive bids being sought.

Even aside from questions of legality, why would a city with a growing city attorney’s office -- and a strained overall budget -- rely so much on costly outside help in the first place? Of course, the city must turn to outside law firms at times, either because of conflicts of interest or because the in-house staff lacks expertise on a topic. But the city attorney’s office has expanded even as spending on outside attorneys has doubled in five years. Hahn expresses bewilderment at the increase, though he signs off on the largest contracts and appoints the city commissioners who approve the smaller ones.

In the meantime, Los Angeles’ financial outlook is so bleak this year that Hahn is resorting to recruiting unpaid reserve officers to fill out the city’s understaffed Police Department. The nearly $19 million that went to law firms last year would have paid salaries for 380 cops.

Over in the L.A. County government, which is even more financially beleaguered, a partner in a law firm that has won millions in county contracts served on the committee to find a replacement for Lloyd Pellman, the chief county counsel, who retired in March. The county counsel, like Delgadillo, has the authority to contract with private firms. Until the Los Angeles Daily Journal legal newspaper raised the issue and published the name of that lawyer, county officials refused to even identify the other committee members. Given the secrecy and the potential conflicts surrounding selection of a new county counsel, the city of Los Angeles is not the only local government to face serious questions about spending taxpayer money on private lawyers.