TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Sheryl L. Bratton, County Counsel
REPORT BY: Sheryl L. Bratton, County Counsel
SUBJECT: Informed Consent Letter
RECOMMENDATION
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Approve and authorize the Informed Consent Letter with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore to allow the law firm to represent the Community College District in negotiations between the County and the College District for law enforcement services. (No fiscal Impact; Discretionary)
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BACKGROUND
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (“LCW”) is retained by the County for legal advice on specialized employment matters, including assisting the County with CalPERS cost sharing and industrial retirement issues. LCW has been asked by Napa Valley Community College District (“District”) to provide it with legal advice in connection with reviewing an agreement for law enforcement services between the District and Napa County for the housing areas owned by the District.
Because the District and the County are each separate and individual clients of LCW, informed written consent is required before LCW can proceed with reviewing the agreement on behalf of the District. The informed consent is limited to LCW’s representation of the District in the negotiation of the law enforcement services agreement. The County’s consent to this representation would not apply to any other matter or services provided by LCW to the County.
California Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.7(a) requires that lawyers obtain informed written consent from each client when the representation of one client is directly adverse to another client in the same or a separate matter. An attorney owes a duty to represent a client with undivided loyalty and without being influenced by the interests of others, including interests of other current clients in unrelated matters. Absent consent, a lawyer may not act as an advocate in one matter against a person the lawyer represents in some other matter, even when the matters are wholly unrelated. The parties will be negotiating the terms of the law enforcement services agreement, which may include key provisions on which we would likely consider advising each client differently.
Consent to LCW’s representation of the District in this matter will not extend to litigation arising from any disputes over the law enforcement services agreement in the future. If litigation arises in connection with the agreement, LCW will not represent either the District or the County.
The District has signed the Informed Consent.
Requested action: Approve and authorize the Informed Consent Letter with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
The approval of the letter will not jeopardize or impact the employment law services the County receives from LCW. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
No |
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Consequences if not approved: |
LCW will not be able to provide legal services to the District, which may delay the negotiations of the law enforcement services agreement between the County and the District. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.