The County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has spent tens of millions of dollars in legal fees in recent years and had few controls in place to evaluate or limit the expenditures, according to an audit released by the agency’s Inspector General. The audit was a response to a motion introduced by County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Mayor Villaraigosa at a Metro meeting last February.
“Money for lawyers had been leaving MTA’s hands with the speed of a runaway train,” said Mr. Ridley-Thomas. “We have stronger controls in place now. But we must continue to refine them to ensure that litigation costs are weighed more carefully in all future cases.”
The audit notes eight cases in which spending on legal fees exceeded $1 million, and it found that during the five-year period from January 2005 to last February, Metro :
• Failed to obtain Board approval for expenditures in excess of $200,000 for services provided by outside legal counsel, consultants and experts, a violation of MTA procurement policy;
• Did not have written risk assessments — a key tool to determine whether cases should be settled or litigated — in litigation case files;
• Did not have policies or procedures for communicating information to the Board.
The audit contains more than 20 recommendations for better management of litigation. They include creating spending caps for cases and requiring Board approval of expenditures exceeding $200,000 by outside law firms and consultants.
The Transportation Division of County Counsel, which acts as MTA’s counsel, adopted new case management protocols last February.
Jamarah Harris may be contacted at jharris@bos.lacounty.gov
