1 Office of the City Attorney Committed to serve the City and dedicated to excellence

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Office of the City AttorneyCommitted to serve the City and dedicated to excellence.

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Values

OWNERSHIP

ACCOUNTABILITY

TRANSPARENCY

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Mission

To provide quality legal services to the City, its Commission, Administration, and other Boards, Authorities and Committees in a timely, efficient, and cost effective manner.

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Goals & Objectives

Personnel Resources Systems Programs

Plan of Work

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Miami Charter Sec. 21

Serves as the Chief Legal Officer;

Counsels City Commission, Administration and all officers;

Prosecutes and defends all lawsuits for and on behalf of the City;

Prepares all contracts, bonds and legal instruments;

Issues legal opinions.

The City Attorney:

Provides in essence:

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All attorneys employed by the City

All outside counsel

Miami Code Sec. 2-111

The City Attorney supervises and controls:

Provides in essence:

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Results of assessments:

Skills Talents Knowledge Ability

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Attorneys’ Experience

Experience

15 or more years

Between 7 and 14 years

Less than 7 years

Total number ofattorneys

With the Office of the City Attorney

4

6

17

27

Practice in Local Government Law

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3

16

27

Number of Attorney

Admitted to the Florida Bar

16

7

4

27

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Implementing the process

Matrix Legal services request Reporting to the client Timing of work Client feedback

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Who is the client?

Define ultimate client Define authorized client Authority to request legal service

Note: Under tab number 2 in the notebook is the list of Departments/Clients and their respective codes.

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Legal Services Request FormCity of Miami

Office of the City AttorneyLegal Services Request

To: Office of the City Attorney Date: _____________

From: _______________ Contact Person

_____________________ Department

_______________ Title

_____________________ Telephone

Legal Services Requested:

Authorized by: _______ Date response requested by: ________

Complete form and forward to the Office of the City Attorney. Do not assume that the Office of the City Attorney ………. Once your request has been assigned, the lower half of this form willbe completed by the Office of the City Attorney and returned to you.

BELOW PORTION TO BE COMPLETED BY THE OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY

Assigned Attorney: ______________

City Attorney Approval: __________

File No._______________

Date: _______________

D/R Date: _______________Type: _______________Matrix: _______________Category: _______________

Comments:_______________________________________________________________

Copy returned to Client

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Matrix

Code Practice Group

100 – Litigation & Appellate practice

200 – Transactional

300 – Land Use & Environmental Law

400 – Legislation, Labor, Personnel & Police Legal

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100 – Litigation & Appellate Practice (See tab no. 4 for complete listing)

Code Areas Definitions101 Torts Litigation against the City, its officials and employees under state

law for allegedly intentional or negligent conduct that causes injury to person or damage to property, and related appeals.

105 Finance Litigation filed against the City arising from the City’s governmental power to tax, impose special assessments and fees.

108 Workers’

Comp

Claims filed under Chapter 440 Florida Statutes involving work-related injuries, and related appeals.

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200 – Transactional (See tab no. 5 for complete listing)

Code Areas Definitions201 Agreements Issues relating to the review, negotiation and drafting of agreements

such as professional services agreements and use agreements.

203 Public Works/

Transportation

Issues relating to the review, negotiations and drafting of public works and construction related contracts, CCNA contracts, CIP and transportation contracts/issues.

208 Real Property Issues relating to the negotiation and drafting of purchase and sale agreements and related financings, leases, easements, license agreements, deeds and other instruments relating to the acquisition, use and disposition of real estate by the City, other than for affordable housing.

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300 – Land Use & Environmental Law (See tab no. 6 for complete listing)

Code Areas Definitions301 Historic and

Preservation Environmental

(HEP)

Matters relating to compliance with Chapters 17 and 23 and the protection of the historic, environmental, archaeological resources of the City, including tree protection.

307 Major Use Special Permits

(MUSP)

Matters related to Review and approval of Major Use Special Permits

309 Building Codes Matters relating to the Florida Building Code and Building Department orders and permits.

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400 – Legislation, Labor, Personnel & Police Legal (Office Administration) (See tab no. 7 for complete listing)

Code Matters Definitions401 State and Local

Legislation Preparation,

Agenda Process

Process for preparation of legislation for City Commission agenda and statutory amendments, oversight of agenda preparation; Legistar, election.

403 Labor/Employment Issues related to City personnel policies and procedures, including employment, collective bargaining, union contract administration and grievances, disciplinary maters, civil service board, civil service board and arbitrations.

406 General Local Government

Issues related to matters that do not fit into a specific matrix, including public records, legislative review, elections, Charter, lobbying, telecommunications, advisory boards, sunshine law, ethics, and gift law issues.

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The Value of Timekeeping

Managed time maximizes legal resources

Clients are promptly and properly served

Professionals and staff are held accountable

Objective criteria is obtained for performance evaluation

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Reporting to the Client

Hours recorded for specific client Hours recorded for specific client by area

of law Hours recorded for specific project,

assignment, case, etc. Individual attorney cumulative hours

recorded for specific time period

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We will be more valuable to our client by investing in hiring and training in-house attorneys to do the work that now goes to outside counsel.

Reducing outside counsel costs

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Number of matters handledby outside counsel by area of practice

FY ’03 – 04

T r ans actio nal9 m atte r s

Labo r an d Em plo ym e n t

6 m atte r s

Land Us e an d En vir o nm e n tal

3 m atte r s

L itigatio n32 cas e s

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Outside counsel fees invoiced and/or paid by area of law

FY ’03 – 04

* $800,000 City recovered

Litigation, Administrative

Law and Appellate Practice

$1,186,178,63 *

Transactional by Issue

$564,900.98

Legislation, Labor, Personnel and Police Legal

$40,558.98

Land Use and Environmental Law $16,814.66

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Office Wide Initiatives

Professionalism Mentoring Client Delight

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Strategies for attracting and retaining highly skilled and motivated attorneys and staff

Aggressive recruiting

Training

Mentoring

Fulfilling career

Financial reward

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Client Feedback

Does my lawyer keep me informed? Does my lawyer anticipate my

needs? Does my lawyer contribute to the

team approach? Does my lawyer work competently

and efficiently? Does my lawyer answer the

unasked question?