Empathy List Archives

CT

Chuck Thompson

Tue, Oct 29, 2013 7:34 PM

A member has a question and as per usual, I'll forward your responses to the member and thank you for the help:

We are running into more and more often "court ordered mediation" in which the Court is demanding the city have someone at the mediation with "authority to settle the case". The mediators are reading this as "sufficient authority to settle the case" . In our charter the City Attorney has $500 of settlement authority. The remainder and unlimited authority, per our charter, explicitly and expressly resides with the Mayor, who is the sole contracting officer of the city. We have taken the position that it is a "non-delegable" duty on the part of the mayor. However, even in cases where the Mayor is authorizing a settlement amount we are facing push back from Judges, magistrates and mediators that the offer is not sufficient. Some judges are even threatening to require the mayor to attend the mediation if he is the only one with authority to settle.

Please inquire how other cities are addressing similar issues.

Charles W. Thompson, Jr.
Executive Director and General Counsel
International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc.
7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1440
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
202-466-5424 x7110
Direct: 202-742-1016
Cell: 240-876-6790
Plan ahead:
IMLA's Mid Year Seminar in Exciting Anchorage, Alaska, May 17-20, 2014
IMLA's Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD Sept. 10-14 Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the the Battle of Ft. McHenry and the birth of the "Star Spangled Banner"

A member has a question and as per usual, I'll forward your responses to the member and thank you for the help: We are running into more and more often "court ordered mediation" in which the Court is demanding the city have someone at the mediation with "authority to settle the case". The mediators are reading this as "sufficient authority to settle the case" . In our charter the City Attorney has $500 of settlement authority. The remainder and unlimited authority, per our charter, explicitly and expressly resides with the Mayor, who is the sole contracting officer of the city. We have taken the position that it is a "non-delegable" duty on the part of the mayor. However, even in cases where the Mayor is authorizing a settlement amount we are facing push back from Judges, magistrates and mediators that the offer is not sufficient. Some judges are even threatening to require the mayor to attend the mediation if he is the only one with authority to settle. Please inquire how other cities are addressing similar issues. Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Executive Director and General Counsel International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1440 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 202-466-5424 x7110 Direct: 202-742-1016 Cell: 240-876-6790 Plan ahead: IMLA's Mid Year Seminar in Exciting Anchorage, Alaska, May 17-20, 2014 IMLA's Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD Sept. 10-14 Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the the Battle of Ft. McHenry and the birth of the "Star Spangled Banner"

CT

Carpenter, Tom

Tue, Oct 29, 2013 7:44 PM

Dear Chuck,
The City of Little Rock participates in an insurance pool, so we try to have someone from the pool there or on standby. The Board of Directors, not the Mayor, deals with any other amount. We have had the Mayor or City Manager present, or on standby, but we let the Court know at the beginning that final approval is subject to BOD approval. We also note that the CM or the Mayor will recommend the settlement to the BOD. The federal judges here have tended to accept that approach.
Tom Carpenter
Little Rock, Arkansas

Sent from my iPad

On Oct 29, 2013, at 2:35 PM, "Chuck Thompson" <CThompson@imla.org mailto:CThompson@imla.org> wrote:

A member has a question and as per usual, I’ll forward your responses to the member and thank you for the help:

We are running into more and more often “court ordered mediation” in which the Court is demanding the city have someone at the mediation with “authority to settle the case”. The mediators are reading this as “sufficient authority to settle the case” . In our charter the City Attorney has $500 of settlement authority. The remainder and unlimited authority, per our charter, explicitly and expressly resides with the Mayor, who is the sole contracting officer of the city. We have taken the position that it is a “non-delegable” duty on the part of the mayor. However, even in cases where the Mayor is authorizing a settlement amount we are facing push back from Judges, magistrates and mediators that the offer is not sufficient. Some judges are even threatening to require the mayor to attend the mediation if he is the only one with authority to settle.

Please inquire how other cities are addressing similar issues.

Charles W. Thompson, Jr.
Executive Director and General Counsel
International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc.
7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1440
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
202-466-5424 x7110
Direct: 202-742-1016
Cell: 240-876-6790
Plan ahead:
IMLA’s Mid Year Seminar in Exciting Anchorage, Alaska, May 17-20, 2014
IMLA’s Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD Sept. 10-14 Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the the Battle of Ft. McHenry and the birth of the “Star Spangled Banner”

Capitalcities mailing list
Capitalcities@lists.imla.org mailto:Capitalcities@lists.imla.org
http://lists.imla.org/mailman/listinfo/capitalcities_lists.imla.org

Dear Chuck, The City of Little Rock participates in an insurance pool, so we try to have someone from the pool there or on standby. The Board of Directors, not the Mayor, deals with any other amount. We have had the Mayor or City Manager present, or on standby, but we let the Court know at the beginning that final approval is subject to BOD approval. We also note that the CM or the Mayor will recommend the settlement to the BOD. The federal judges here have tended to accept that approach. Tom Carpenter Little Rock, Arkansas Sent from my iPad On Oct 29, 2013, at 2:35 PM, "Chuck Thompson" <CThompson@imla.org<mailto:CThompson@imla.org>> wrote: A member has a question and as per usual, I’ll forward your responses to the member and thank you for the help: We are running into more and more often “court ordered mediation” in which the Court is demanding the city have someone at the mediation with “authority to settle the case”. The mediators are reading this as “sufficient authority to settle the case” . In our charter the City Attorney has $500 of settlement authority. The remainder and unlimited authority, per our charter, explicitly and expressly resides with the Mayor, who is the sole contracting officer of the city. We have taken the position that it is a “non-delegable” duty on the part of the mayor. However, even in cases where the Mayor is authorizing a settlement amount we are facing push back from Judges, magistrates and mediators that the offer is not sufficient. Some judges are even threatening to require the mayor to attend the mediation if he is the only one with authority to settle. Please inquire how other cities are addressing similar issues. Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Executive Director and General Counsel International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1440 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 202-466-5424 x7110 Direct: 202-742-1016 Cell: 240-876-6790 Plan ahead: IMLA’s Mid Year Seminar in Exciting Anchorage, Alaska, May 17-20, 2014 IMLA’s Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD Sept. 10-14 Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the the Battle of Ft. McHenry and the birth of the “Star Spangled Banner” _______________________________________________ Capitalcities mailing list Capitalcities@lists.imla.org<mailto:Capitalcities@lists.imla.org> http://lists.imla.org/mailman/listinfo/capitalcities_lists.imla.org

SS

Shelley.Smith@phila.gov

Tue, Oct 29, 2013 7:59 PM

Philadelphia is fortunate that our Charter gives control of the
indemnities fund, all legal decisions, and unlimited settlement authority
to the City Solicitor. We determine the appropriate amount of settlement
authority for a particular case -- or none at all, if we've decided that
-- and have the attorney's supervisor on call if the mediator demands it.
To my knowledge no mediator has ever reached out to a City Solicitor
(certainly none has reached out to me), but judges have, and where "no,
we'll risk a trial" is the answer, that's what I tell them. They don't
like it, but they have to live with it because the Charter vests the
authority with me.

--
Shelley R. Smith
City Solicitor
1515 Arch Street, 17th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 683-5003 (ph)
(215) 683-5068 (fax)
shelley.smith@phila.gov

Chuck Thompson CThompson@imla.org
Sent by: "Federal" federal-bounces@lists.imla.org
10/29/2013 03:34 PM

To
"cityattorneys@lists.imla.org" cityattorneys@lists.imla.org,
"capitalcities@lists.imla.org" capitalcities@lists.imla.org,
"federal@lists.imla.org" federal@lists.imla.org
cc

Subject
[Federal] Mediation- member question

A member has a question and as per usual, I?ll forward your responses to
the member and thank you for the help:

We are running into more and more often ?court ordered mediation? in which
the Court is demanding the city have someone at the mediation with
?authority to settle the case?. The mediators are reading this as
?sufficient authority to settle the case? . In our charter the City
Attorney has $500 of settlement authority. The remainder and unlimited
authority, per our charter, explicitly and expressly resides with the
Mayor, who is the sole contracting officer of the city. We have taken the
position that it is a ?non-delegable? duty on the part of the mayor.
However, even in cases where the Mayor is authorizing a settlement amount
we are facing push back from Judges, magistrates and mediators that the
offer is not sufficient. Some judges are even threatening to require the
mayor to attend the mediation if he is the only one with authority to
settle.

Please inquire how other cities are addressing similar issues.

Charles W. Thompson, Jr.
Executive Director and General Counsel
International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc.
7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1440
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
202-466-5424 x7110
Direct: 202-742-1016
Cell: 240-876-6790
Plan ahead:
IMLA?s Mid Year Seminar in Exciting Anchorage, Alaska, May 17-20, 2014
IMLA?s Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD Sept. 10-14 Celebrating the 200
th Anniversary of the the Battle of Ft. McHenry and the birth of the ?Star
Spangled Banner?

Federal mailing list
Federal@lists.imla.org
http://lists.imla.org/mailman/listinfo/federal_lists.imla.org

Philadelphia is fortunate that our Charter gives control of the indemnities fund, all legal decisions, and unlimited settlement authority to the City Solicitor. We determine the appropriate amount of settlement authority for a particular case -- or none at all, if we've decided that -- and have the attorney's supervisor on call if the mediator demands it. To my knowledge no mediator has ever reached out to a City Solicitor (certainly none has reached out to me), but judges have, and where "no, we'll risk a trial" is the answer, that's what I tell them. They don't like it, but they have to live with it because the Charter vests the authority with me. -- Shelley R. Smith City Solicitor 1515 Arch Street, 17th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 683-5003 (ph) (215) 683-5068 (fax) shelley.smith@phila.gov Chuck Thompson <CThompson@imla.org> Sent by: "Federal" <federal-bounces@lists.imla.org> 10/29/2013 03:34 PM To "cityattorneys@lists.imla.org" <cityattorneys@lists.imla.org>, "capitalcities@lists.imla.org" <capitalcities@lists.imla.org>, "federal@lists.imla.org" <federal@lists.imla.org> cc Subject [Federal] Mediation- member question A member has a question and as per usual, I?ll forward your responses to the member and thank you for the help: We are running into more and more often ?court ordered mediation? in which the Court is demanding the city have someone at the mediation with ?authority to settle the case?. The mediators are reading this as ?sufficient authority to settle the case? . In our charter the City Attorney has $500 of settlement authority. The remainder and unlimited authority, per our charter, explicitly and expressly resides with the Mayor, who is the sole contracting officer of the city. We have taken the position that it is a ?non-delegable? duty on the part of the mayor. However, even in cases where the Mayor is authorizing a settlement amount we are facing push back from Judges, magistrates and mediators that the offer is not sufficient. Some judges are even threatening to require the mayor to attend the mediation if he is the only one with authority to settle. Please inquire how other cities are addressing similar issues. Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Executive Director and General Counsel International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1440 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 202-466-5424 x7110 Direct: 202-742-1016 Cell: 240-876-6790 Plan ahead: IMLA?s Mid Year Seminar in Exciting Anchorage, Alaska, May 17-20, 2014 IMLA?s Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD Sept. 10-14 Celebrating the 200 th Anniversary of the the Battle of Ft. McHenry and the birth of the ?Star Spangled Banner? _______________________________________________ Federal mailing list Federal@lists.imla.org http://lists.imla.org/mailman/listinfo/federal_lists.imla.org