A high -profile law firm that represents the city of Los Angeles in a radical case of homeless people presented an invoice of $ 1.8 million for two weeks of work in May, according to the records reviewed by The Times.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's bill occurs since the city is already under great financial pressure, caused in part by rapidly growing legal payments.
With at least 15 of Gibson's lawyers Dunn by invoicing almost $ 1,300 per hour, the price so far equals just less than $ 140,000 per day for a period of 13 days.
Gibson Dunn, while representing the city of the Grants Pass, Oregon, recently obtained a historic decision of the United States Supreme Court that confirmed the laws that prohibit the camps of homeless people in public spaces.
Los Angeles officials retained the law firm in May, approximately one week before a seven -day probative hearing to determine whether control over the city's lack of housing must be eliminated from Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council and deliver to a third party receiver.
A month later, the American district judge David O. Carter issued a scathing ruling, saying that the city did not adhere to the terms of a three -year liquidation agreement with the Human Rights Alliance, which requires the creation of 12,915 homeless beds or other housing opportunities for June 2027.
Even so, Carter also concluded that “this is not the time” for the control of the programs of approximately $ 1 billion of the city in a third to a third.
Matthew Umhofer, a lawyer who represents the Alliance, said that the city paid a lot of money to Gibson Dunn in a failed attempt to be expelled from his legal obligations.
“The city should spend this money in fulfilling the agreement and/or providing services to the people who need them,” he said. “On the other hand, they are paying a law firm to fight the teeth and nails against the obligations that are clear in the conciliation agreement, and that a judge has claimed that they are violating.”
The invoice, which the Times obtained from the city's lawyer's office, lists a billing period from May 19 to 31, which covers a week of preparations for the Federal High Risk Hearing, as well as four of the seven days of the test, each of which generally lasted eight or more hours.
Theane Evangelis, head of the Gibson Dunn team that represents the city, sent questions about the invoice to the city's lawyer's office.
Karen Richardson, spokesman for City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto said in a statement that Gibson Dunn “did an outstanding job when entering a crucial issue that had been in litigation for almost 5 years before they were hired,” compressing “what would normally be years of work in a very short period of time.”
“We are grateful for their service and we are in the process of reviewing the expenses … to make sure to return to the Council with a complete image of what was done and charged,” he said in a statement.
The city retained Gibson Dunn just when the council members signed hundreds of employee layoffs, part of a broader strategy to close a budget deficit of almost $ 1 billion. The first batch of dismissal notices was scheduled to leave this week.
The City Council initially assigned $ 900,000 for Gibson Dunn, for a period that does not exceed three years, according to the company's contract. According to the contract, the approval of $ 900,000 required prior written approval of the city lawyer.
The law firm quickly exceeded that threshold, eventually invoicing twice the specified amount.
During the seven -day hearing, Gibson Dunn took a very aggressive position, expressing numerous objections to lawyer questions representing the alliance, as well as two organizations that intervened in the case.
Councilor Bob Blumenfield, who is the homeless people committee of the Council, said that the city's lawyer's office did not advise him that the legal costs of Gibson Dunn had reached $ 1.8 million in such a short period. Blumenfield, who represents part of the San Fernando Valley, said that “he is not happy”, but that he is reserving more comments until he receives more details.
Three months ago, Blumenfield was co -author of a motion with Councilor Tim Mcosker in search of periodic updates about the alliance litigation, both by Gibson Dunn and the city's lawyer's office.
Mcosker, who serves in the Budget Committee and spent several years directing the city's lawyer's office, did not receive notification from Gibson Dunn $ 1.8 million of the city's legal team, according to Sophie Gilchrist, his spokesman.
Gilchrist said his boss had asked for regular updates to “avoid any surprise in the billing” related to the case of the alliance.
“That is why the councilor requests that this matter be taken to the City Council immediately, so that the city lawyer can provide full accounting and discuss all invoices related to the case,” he said.
Gibson Dunn has presented a notice of the intention of the city to appeal at least parts of the Carter failure, which ordered that a third -party monitor review and verify the data produced by the city on its housing and camp objectives.
Carter said he would probably order the city to pay the legal fees of the Alliance and the Defense Groups of the homeless who have intervened in the case. Until now, the Alliance has sought $ 1.3 million in the city to cover its legal expenses incurred since April 2024.
In a statement to The Times earlier this week, Evangelis, Gibson Dunn's lawyer, cited the judge's “suggestion that the alliance can recover lawyers' fees” as a reason for the appeal.
“The city believes that its resources should spend providing services to those in need, not redirected to the lawyers of the Alliance, particularly when the District Court has rejected most of its arguments,” he said.
