CITY OF HOMER

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF HOMER, ALASKA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY TO REIMBURSE THE CITY OFFICIAL DEFENDANTS FOR LEGAL FEES INCURRED IN THE DEFENSE OF THE LAWSUIT FILED BY THOMAS TAFFE.

WHEREAS, Thomas Taffe has filed a lawsuit against Douglas Stark, Matthew Shadle, Bryan Zak, and Sharon Minsch alleging that each of them has acted wrongfully in the course of their performance of duties as officials of the City; and

WHEREAS, Under HCC Chapter 1.10 the City has certain duties concerning defense and indemnification of city officials alleged in a lawsuit to have acted wrongfully in performance of their official duties; and

WHEREAS, Certain exclusions under HCC Chapter 1.10 make it clear the City does not have a duty to indemnify any of the officials for the penalties sought against them, and further, while many of the factual allegations of the complaint are likely excluded from the duty to defend, it is not clear that all of the factual allegations against all defendants are excluded from the duty to provide a legal defense; and

WHEREAS, Due to the factual allegations and legal theories asserted in the complaint against each of the defendants it is not practical or even possible to retain one attorney to jointly defend all four defendants; and

WHEREAS, HCC Chapter 1.10 gives the City the right to select defense counsel, but in the circumstances present in this case it is more prudent for the City to waive that right and allow each defendant to hire his or her own legal counsel to be reimbursed by the City for reasonable costs and fees for the defense.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Homer City Council:

Section 1. Subject to the conditions stated in the following sections of this resolution, the City will, upon request, provide reimbursement for a legal defense to each of the four defendants in the suit of Taffe vs. Stark, Shadle, Zak, and Minsch.

Section 2. Each defendant shall select his or her own attorney and control his or her own defense. Each defendant shall give the City Manager the name and address of the selected attorney and his or her law firm.

Section 3. The City's reimbursement to a defendant will be (a) limited to reasonable attorneys fees and reasonable costs incurred in the defense of the Taffe complaint, and (b) further limited to the standard hourly rate for similar work of the selected attorney and paralegal(s), if any, but not to exceed $225.00 per hour for attorney time. The City will make reimbursement payments not more often than monthly after receipt of a copy of an invoice. The invoice(s) must contain sufficient detail to inform the City what work was done, that the work was performed in defense of the Taffe complaint, and that the time and fees for such work are reasonable; but the invoices must not include any confidential or privileged communications or confidential attorney work product.

Section 4. The City will not pay any attorneys fees or costs incurred in the prosecution of any counterclaims, cross-claims, third-party claims, or other lawsuits or claims made by any defendant against another person. If any defendant files any such claims, attorney invoices must clearly distinguish the costs and fees incurred in defense of the Taffe complaint from those of any other claims.

Section 5. Upon conclusion of the lawsuit, each defendant who is a prevailing party against the plaintiff will make good faith and reasonable efforts to recover and collect court-awarded attorneys fees and costs from the plaintiff, and will pay over to the City as reimbursement the full amount of any collected recovery, not to exceed the amount paid by the City to or on behalf of the defendant for his or her legal defense.

Section 6. The City does not by this resolution agree to pay any penalties, fines, or damages that are or may become due from any defendant.

Section 7. Each defendant requesting reimbursement from the City under this resolution must, promptly after engaging the attorney, make a written request to the City Manager and, together with the attorney, affirm in writing that both the defendant and the attorney agree to abide by the conditions stated in this resolution.