finance and economic development committee report 36

FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
REPORT 36
11 SEPTEMBER 2013
1.
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COMITÉ DES FINANCES ET DU
DÉVELOPPEMENT ÉCONOMIQUE
RAPPORT 36
LE 11 SEPTEMBRE 2013
COMPREHENSIVE LEGAL SERVICES REPORT FOR THE PERIOD APRIL 1
TO JUNE 30, 2013
RAPPORT GÉNÉRAL SUR LES SERVICES JURIDIQUES POUR LA PÉRIODE
DU 1ER AVRIL AU 30 JUIN 2013
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
That Council receive this report for information.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU COMITÉ
Que le Conseil prenne connaissance de ce rapport.
DOCUMENTATION / DOCUMENTATION
1.
M. Rick O’Connor, City Clerk and Solicitor, report dated 3 September 2013
(ACS2013-CMR-LEG-0008)
M. Rick O’Connor, Greffier Municipal et chef du contentieux, rapport daté du 3
septembre 2013 (ACS2013-CMR-LEG-0008)
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
REPORT 36
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Report to/Rapport au:
Finance and Economic Development Committee
Comité des finances et du développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
September 3, 2013
3 septembre 2013
Submitted by/Soumis par:
M. Rick O’Connor, City Clerk and Solicitor/Greffier et Chef du contentieux
Contact Person / Personne ressource: David White, Manager, Litigation and Labour
Relations / Gestionnaire, Direction des litiges et des relations de travail
613-580-2424, ext. 21933 / [email protected]
Ward: CITY WIDE / À L'ÉCHELLE
DE LA VILLE
Reference Number: ACS2013-CMR-LEG-0008
SUBJECT:
COMPREHENSIVE LEGAL SERVICES REPORT FOR THE PERIOD
APRIL 1 TO JUNE 30, 2013
OBJET:
RAPPORT GÉNÉRAL SUR LES SERVICES JURIDIQUES POUR LA
PÉRIODE DU 1ER AVRIL AU 30 juin 2013
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Finance and Economic Development Committee recommend that
Council receive this report for information.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des finances et du développement économique recommande que
le Conseil prenne connaissance de ce rapport.
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
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BACKGROUND
The inaugural Comprehensive Legal Services Report covering the first and second
quarters of 2011 was approved by City Council on August 25th, 2011. The new report
format originated from a Motion that was passed by Council on April 27 th, 2011, that
directed “the City Clerk and Solicitor to combine the existing Claims Settlements,
Litigation Record and External Legal Costs reports into a single comprehensive report”.
The information provided herein is with respect to the second quarter of 2013.
DISCUSSION
Litigation and Labour Relations Branch
In keeping with the format developed as part of the initial Comprehensive Legal
Services Report, outlined below is the litigation record for the Branch for the 2013
second quarter, as well as an overview of the claims concluded in that same period.
The report also provides a breakdown of the range and volume of civil litigation currently
being handled by the Branch, as well as information on whether carriage of these
matters rests with the Branch’s in-house legal staff or with external counsel.
(a)
Labour Relations Unit
A summary of labour arbitration outcomes for Q2 is set out below in Figure 1.
Figure 1
6 Labour Arbitration Outcomes
1
0
5 Successful (settlement)
5
1 Successful (decision)
0 Unsuccessful (decision)
(b)
Claims Unit
A summary of claims outcomes for the second quarter is set out below in Figure 2 (by
number) and Figure 3 (by value).
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Figure 2
128 Claims* Concluded Under $100,000 By Number
25
25 Personal Injury
103 Property Damage
103
Figure 3
128 Claims* Concluded Under $100,000 By Value
$279,636.71
$585,702.45
$279,636.71 Personal Injury
$585,702.45 Property Damage
*Note: These figures include settlement of both litigated and non-litigated claims
Claims concluded over $100,000 – Q2 2013
Department
Public Works
Transit Services
Transit Services
Transit Services
Category
Bodily/Personal
Injury
Bodily/Personal
Injury
Bodily/Personal
Injury
Bodily/Personal
Injury
Claim Type
Slip and Fall
Net City Cost
$126,582.00
Personal Injury
$151,486.53
MVA, City and Third
Party Vehicle - No AB
Personal Injury
$155,090.97
TOTAL:
$658,159.50
$225,000.00
Specific details with regard to these claims are confidential in keeping with standard
settlement practices. The specific circumstances and facts surrounding these
confidential settlements are available to Members of Council from the Office of the City
Clerk and Solicitor.
(c)
Civil Litigation Unit
In the second quarter, 46 new Statements of Claim were received by the Litigation and
Labour Relations Branch. With these, there are currently 283 outstanding civil
proceedings against the City that are being addressed by the Branch. Of these open
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files, carriage of over 93% rests with the City’s in-house Legal staff, with less than 7% of
the remaining files having been referred to external counsel at either the direction of the
City’s insurer or due to the scope and/or complexity of the litigation.
A summary of outcomes for civil litigation, Ontario Municipal Board (“OMB”) and other
administrative tribunals for Q2 is set out below in Figures 4, 5 and 6.
Figure 4
21 Civil Litigation Outcomes
2
2
17 Successful (settlement)
17
2 Successful (decision)
2 Unsuccessful (decision)
Reason for Unsuccessful Outcomes:
(i)
The first unsuccessful outcome is with respect to a Small Claims Court matter
involving a claim by residents whose tax bill was sent to an incorrect address for
a period of two years. While the Plaintiffs remitted the outstanding property taxes
owed, they brought an action to recover the amount of the interest charged by
the City. The Small Claims Court judge accepted the Plaintiffs’ argument that
they were not entirely responsible for the administrative error by the City and
assessed their contributory negligence at 10%. As a result, the City was ordered
to remit the amount of $1,247.57 to the Plaintiffs.
(ii)
The second unsuccessful outcome in Q2 is another Small Claims Court matter.
In this case, the Plaintiff brought a claim against the City alleging that damage to
his building was caused by snow removal equipment, either belonging to the City
or one of its contractors. The City defended the action on the basis that there
was no evidence connecting the damage to any activity by the City and that the
claim was founded purely on speculation by the Plaintiff. Notwithstanding the
absence of direct evidence that the damage was caused by City equipment, the
Small Claims Court Judge found in favour of the Plaintiff and awarded damages,
inclusive of interest, in the amount of $11,293.36.
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
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Figure 5
8 OMB Outcomes
1
0
7 Successful (settlement)
7
1 Successful (decision)
0 Unsuccessful (decision)
Figure 6
29 Other Administrative Outcomes (Human Rights,
Assessment Review Board, Information Privacy
Commissioner, WSIP, etc.)
22 Successful (settlement)
7
0
7 Successful (decision)
22
0 Unsuccessful (decision)
Corporate Development and Environmental Law Branch (“CDEL”)
The CDEL Branch, in the second quarter of 2013, provided key legal support for
important projects and strategic initiatives of the City within the current Term of
Council Priorities. Some of the highlights of the varied services provided by inhouse legal staff include the following:
1. All Terrain Vehicle “ATV” By-law (Ward 20) – Together with By-law and
Regulatory Services, drafted a new by-law to permit the use of and to regulate
ATVs on certain road allowances (both opened and unopened) in Ward 20
(Osgoode Ward), on a pilot project basis. By-law No. 2013-199 was approved and
enacted by Council on June 12, 2013. The by-law incorporates a role for the ATV
club to manage its members when using the road allowances, and is the first of its
kind in the City of Ottawa.
2. Special Events By-law (City Wide) – In partnership with By-law and Regulatory
Services, drafted a new by-law to regulate and to create a permit system for large
special events occurring on private and public (non-roadway) property. By-law No.
2013-232 was approved and enacted by Council on June 26, 2013. Issues of public
safety, planning of emergency response and other City services, and general
planning of events such as festivals, fairs and sporting events are addressed in the
by-law. The by-law also formalizes the charging of fees for City services provided in
respect of special events.
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3. Ontario Renovates Program (City Wide) – Legal Services has developed, with
the Housing Services Branch, letters of agreement to residents that have applied for
funding to make renovations to their homes. Legal Services is assisting in
performing title searches for the properties, performing searches under the Personal
Property Security Act when the property is a mobile home, and advising when
title/ownership issues come up and need to be addressed.
4. Rural Association Partnership Program (RRAP) and Rural Community
Building Grant Program (RCBGP) (Wards: 5, 19, 20, 21) – Working with
operational staff, Legal Services developed template contribution agreements for
not-for-profit corporations for the purposes of assisting with the administration of
these two programs by the Planning and Growth Management Department.
A summary of key in-house CDEL metrics for Q2 is set out below in table form.
Routine
Moderate
lyComple Complex
x
119
59
31
22
TOTAL
Agreements & Contracts Reviewed/Drafted
167
345
Reports Reviewed/Drafted
73
126
Real Estate Purchases & Sales*
43
Tax Sale Registrations, Property Standards Orders, Grow Op Orders
41
By-Laws Reviewed/Drafted
99
*Stats do not include work required in processing outsourced transactions including light
rail land acquisitions.
PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS* RECEIVED
Moderate
Routine
ly
Complex
Subdivision**
Site Plan Control
Condominium
Other
Complex
TOTAL
5
1
8
5
29
8
50
28
29
21
MISCELLANEOUS DEVELOPMENT REQUESTS PROCESSED
Severance
13
By-laws (Road Opening/Closing)
8
13
8
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Releases/Development Charge Deferrals
10
10
Compliance
19
19
Part Lot Exemption
15
15
Early Servicing
4
4
*The statistics for Development Agreements do not include associated registration such
as transfers, easements, maintenance and liability agreements, and inhibiting orders
as well as review of joint use and maintenance agreements.
**Although no subdivision approvals were received in this quarter, Legal Services staff
in the Unit registered 12 subdivisions
Definitions:
Routine – Standard form agreements regularly seen and reviewed in routine legal
practice and requiring basic analysis by Law Clerks and Legal Counsel (e.g.
easements, encroachment/traffic signal/private road/cash-in-lieu of parking agreements,
etc.).
Moderately Complex – Agreements where no template exists and requiring research,
review and analysis (e.g. inter-governmental MOUs and/or SLAs, commercial real
estate transactions, site plan agreements, joint-use/cost-sharing agreements, etc.) by
Law Clerks, Legal Counsel and occasionally more senior Legal Counsel. Monitoring is
necessary to ensure that all legal requirements are satisfied.
Complex – Unique agreements that necessitate detailed analysis requiring expertise in
specialized practice areas (i.e. public-private partnerships, subdivision agreements,
commercial leases, federal and provincial funding and/or contribution agreements,
etc.). There are no existing precedents for complex agreements, which often include
the preparation of complementary agreements, certificates or by-laws that typically
require significant time or dedicated resources to research, prepare, review and/or
analyze by Legal Counsel, more senior Legal Counsel and/or the Deputy City Solicitor.
Ongoing monitoring of complex agreements is required to ensure that all legal
requirements are satisfied.
External Legal Costs
The 2013 second quarter external legal costs are set out below:
Firm
Subject
Fee
Taxes
Disbursements
Borden, Ladner, Corp/Commercial, $ 51,567 $ 6,638 $
881
Gervais
Development
Borden, Ladner, Light Rail Project $ 251,572 $ 33,960 $ 9,775
Gervais
Caza Saikaley
Litigation
$ 174,264 $ 31,492 $137,960*
Gowlings
Insured Litigated
$ 56,961 $ 7,722 $ 2,763
Total
$
59,086
$ 295,307
$ 343,716
$ 67,446
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
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11 SEPTEMBER 2013
Heenan, Blaikie
Heenan, Blaikie
Hicks, Morley
Lerners
McCall, Dawson
Claims
Litigation/Labour
Insured Litigated
Claims
Labour and
Employment
Insured Litigated
Claims
Insured Litigated
Claims
Expropriation
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$ 133,993
$
7,669
$ 18,446
$ 1,020
$
$
7,944
226
$
713
$
93
$
0
$
806
$
80,835
$ 11,027
$
4,241
$
96,103
$
2,556
$
$
0
$
2,888
332
$ 160,383
$
8,915
Soloway, Wright
$
421 $
55 $
0 $
476
Q2 Total
$ 760,551 $110,785 $163,790 $1,035,126
Note: Not all of the costs above are charged to the Legal Services budget, namely, the
costs with respect to the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Project and insured litigated claims.
*In some instances, disbursement costs are paid directly to service providers.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no rural implications associated with this report.
CONSULTATION
As this is largely an administrative report issued on a quarterly basis, no consultation
was undertaken.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
Some settlements referenced here are subject to the confidentiality requirements that
commonly form part of a claim resolution. Should further details be sought on those
matters, Councillors may contact the Office of the City Clerk and Solicitor directly.
RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
There are no risk management concerns arising from this report.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial impacts associated with this report.
ACCESSIBILITY IMPACTS
There are no accessibility impacts associated with this report.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no environmental implications associated with this report.
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
REPORT 36
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TECHNOLOGY IMPLICATIONS
There are no technical implications associated with receiving this report.
TERM OF COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Governance, Planning and Decision-Making
GP1 – Improve the public’s confidence and satisfaction with the way Council works.
DISPOSITION
Subject to any direction by the Finance and Economic Development Committee and
Council, the City Clerk and Solicitor will continue to produce this report on a quarterly
basis.