Litigation Losses

Re “L.A.’s Fees for Outside Law Firms Grow 20%,” Oct. 26: The fact that over the last year the city of Los Angeles has had to increase its spending on outside law firms by 20% should be a wake-up call to the citizens of Los Angeles. We simply can’t afford to keep footing the bill for exorbitant litigation and lawsuits. That $29.6 million is our money, and it could be much better spent on education, health and the safety of the millions of people who live here. The personal injury lawyers who sue our city are hitting us two ways. First by siphoning more of our taxpayer dollars away in legal fees, and second in settlements paid to make the lawsuits go away. Either way, we’re all paying and we’re all losing.

Linda Okun

Executive Director

Citizens Against Lawsuit

Abuse of Los Angeles