A recent Los Angeles Daily News story, “L.A. County Sees Legal Costs Drop to $105M” reports that Los Angeles County’s legal costs dropped to $105 million last fiscal year, according to a new report.  In 2008-09, L.A. County’s legal cost was a recording setting $114 million.  In the report, Litigation Cost Manager Steven Estabrook said the decrease was primarily the result of a reduction of legal settlements from $40 million to $27 million.

Estabrook wrote the overall attorney fees and costs rose 5 percent to $52 million, primarily because of a rate increase given to 20 contract law firms in late 2009.  “These panel counsel had not received an increase in 15 years and were considerably below comparable public entity market rates,” Estabrool wrote.  “The rate increase brought these panel firms into parity with other panel firms which had not received a similar rate increase last fiscal year.”