The sum of money that the town of Los Angeles pays yearly for police misconduct, journey and falls, and different lawsuits has ballooned, rising from $64 million a decade in the past to $254 million final 12 months and $289 million this fiscal 12 months.
The explanations are difficult, starting from growing old sidewalks to juries’ tendency to award bigger judgments to potential shifts in authorized technique on the metropolis legal professional’s workplace to a rise within the sheer variety of lawsuits in opposition to the town.
The most important chunk of payouts over the previous 5 years had been for “harmful situations” — lawsuits singling out defective metropolis infrastructure, reminiscent of damaged elevators — at 32%, adopted by civil rights violations and illegal makes use of of drive at 18%, and site visitors collisions involving metropolis autos additionally at 18%.
Metropolis officers have cited the authorized payouts as a big consider an almost $1-billion finances shortfall for fiscal 12 months 2025-26 that was closed with layoffs and different spending cuts.
Metropolis Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, who took workplace in December 2022, heads the workplace that defends the town in opposition to lawsuits.
In an interview with The Occasions and public appearances all through the town, Feldstein Soto cited a backlog of circumstances from the COVID-19 pandemic, when courts had been barely shifting, that had been settled or went to trial lately.
“Structured settlements” negotiated by her predecessor, Mike Feuer, that are paid out yearly slightly than in a single lump sum, have additionally contributed to the tab, she stated.
Feldstein Soto additionally stated she believes juries are more and more antagonistic to metropolis governments, leading to bigger verdicts.
Feuer stated in an interview that the town was coming into into structured settlements earlier than he took workplace, and he doesn’t consider he elevated their use.
To clarify the rise in authorized legal responsibility payouts throughout his tenure — from about $40 million in 2013 to about $91 million in 2022 — Feuer cited a scarcity of funding in metropolis infrastructure like streets and sidewalks throughout the 2008 monetary disaster.
In public appearances, Feldstein Soto has typically blamed plaintiffs for attempting to get monetary compensation for what she characterised as dangerous habits or interpersonal disputes.
Talking to the Sherman Oaks Owners Affiliation earlier this 12 months, she stated that two forms of lawsuits — “harmful situations” lawsuits and people introduced by metropolis workers over working situations — are ripe for abuse. Some workers who sue the town merely don’t like their bosses, Feldstein Soto stated, citing a lawsuit by an LAPD captain, Stacey Vince, who alleged that higher-ups retaliated in opposition to her after she complained about her boss. Vince was awarded $10.1 million by a jury, and the town subsequently settled the case for slightly below $6 million.
Feldstein Soto additionally described one man who sued the town as an “fool.” The person was driving his electrical scooter with no helmet, Feldstein Soto stated, when he crashed on an uneven sidewalk and into a close-by tree, struggling a traumatic mind harm.
Based on Feldstein Soto, taxpayers finally pay the value for these lawsuits.
“Please perceive that each greenback you award is your cash,” she stated.
The variety of lawsuits filed in opposition to the town has risen every year for the reason that pandemic, from 1,131 in 2021 to 1,560 in 2024.
On the identical time, the typical quantity the town pays per case has elevated dramatically, from underneath $50,000 in 2022 to $132,180 in 2024. A contributing issue is the rise in payouts of least $1 million, with 17 such circumstances in 2022 and 39 in 2024. (The town counts settlements or jury verdicts within the fiscal 12 months they’re paid out, not when the greenback quantity is set.)
From July 2024 to March 2025, the town paid $1 million or extra in 51 lawsuits.
Feldstein Soto stated these “nuclear verdicts” minimize deep into the town finances and will elevate payouts for related circumstances sooner or later.
Complete annual payouts in police misconduct circumstances jumped from $15 million in 2020 to $50 million in 2024. Harmful situations circumstances rose from round $41 million in 2020 to about $84 million in 2024.
Earlier this 12 months, the town paid $21 million to plaintiffs in a sequence of lawsuits associated to a botched LAPD bomb squad fireworks detonation that injured greater than 20 individuals and displaced many residents.
Additionally this 12 months, the town paid out a $17.7-million verdict to the household of a person with psychological well being points killed by an off-duty LAPD officer.
This coming fiscal 12 months, the town elevated its allocation for legal responsibility payouts from about $87 million to $187 million — far lower than what it has been paying lately — out of a $14-billion finances.
Metropolis Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who chairs the council’s public works committee, stated the rising payouts stem partially from the town’s long-term lack of funding in infrastructure. The town spent about 10% of its total finances on streets and different public works final 12 months — considerably lower than it spent on police, stated Hernandez, who favors a smaller LAPD.
“As a metropolis, we don’t put money into the upkeep of our metropolis,” she stated. “I’ve felt like I’ve been screaming into the void about a few of these issues.”
In a single lawsuit paid out this 12 months, the town agreed to provide $3 million to a person who tripped over a barely uneven sidewalk and suffered a traumatic mind harm.
Final April, the town reached a $21-million settlement with a person whose cranium was damaged by a avenue lamp half that fell on him. The town had gone to trial, with a jury awarding the person $22 million, however the events ultimately settled for the marginally decrease quantity.
“I consider the driving drive is the delays and lack of upkeep of the town that has triggered a rise in such incidents,” stated Arash Zabetian, a lawyer for the person hit by the streetlight.
Some plaintiffs’ attorneys say that Feldstein Soto’s authorized methods are contributing to the rising legal responsibility prices. They assert that she is taking extra circumstances to trial, leading to bigger verdicts than if she had settled.
Matthew McNicholas, an legal professional who typically sues the town on behalf of cops, stated he lately went to trial in 5 circumstances and gained all of them, for a complete payout of greater than $40 million.
He would have been joyful to settle all 5 circumstances for a complete of lower than $10 million, he stated.
One of many lawsuits, which ended with a $13-million verdict, was filed by two male officers accused of drawing a penis on a suspect’s stomach. The officers alleged that higher-ups didn’t forged the identical suspicion on their feminine colleagues.
In one other of the lawsuits, a whistleblower alleged that he was punished for highlighting issues within the LAPD Bomb Detection Ok-9 Part. A jury additionally awarded him $13 million.
“It’s not a tactic to say we’re going to play hardball. It’s simply silly,” McNicholas stated. “I’m pissed off as a result of she goes and blames my shoppers and runaway juries for her issues.”
Greg Smith, one other plaintiffs’ legal professional, stated he has additionally seen a bent at Feldstein Soto’s workplace to push circumstances to trial.
“Every thing is a combat,” Smith stated. “I’ve been suing the town for 30 years, and this has been the worst administration with respect to attempting to settle circumstances.”
Feldstein Soto stated her workplace settles “each case we are able to.”
“It’s in no person’s curiosity to go to trial. It’s a waste of assets,” she stated. “However we is not going to settle circumstances the place we don’t suppose we’re liable or the place the demand is unreasonable.”
To stem the flood of enormous payouts, Feldstein Soto is trying to Sacramento for assist, proposing a invoice that will cap lawsuits in opposition to California cities at $1 million or thrice the financial losses attributable to an incident, whichever is larger. Caps on damages exist already in 38 states, based on Feldstein Soto’s workplace.
She has but to discover a state legislator to sponsor the invoice.
