WILLITS, et al v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES - Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims
18. Inspections
18.1. During the first five (5) years of the Compliance Period, Class Counsel may conduct semi-annual inspections of: (i) any drawings and/or designs prepared by or for the City for Program Access Improvements concerning pedestrian right of way during the Compliance Period; and (ii) the Pedestrian Facilities (the "Inspections") for purposes of monitoring the City’s compliance with this Settlement Agreement. For the remainder of the Compliance Period thereafter, Class Counsel may conduct the Inspections on an annual basis. During the Compliance Period, Class Counsel shall have reasonable access to the City’s designs and drawings for street projects, to the extent that such designs and drawings are prepared for such work.
18.2. Any reasonable and necessary monitoring fees and expenses incurred by Class Counsel shall be paid out of the Annual Commitment and the interest thereon (if any), subject to Section 18.3 below. However, monitoring fees and costs that may be paid to Class Counsel shall be capped each year and shall not exceed the following amounts, exclusive of any disputes resolved by the District Court:
(a) For the five fiscal years following Final Approval of this Settlement Agreement by the District Court (i.e., Years 1-5), such fees and costs shall be capped at a maximum of $250,000 each year.1
(b) For the five fiscal years following the period set forth in Section 18.2(a) above (i.e., Years 6-10), such fees and costs shall be capped at a maximum of $135,000 each year.
(c) For the five fiscal years following the period set forth in Section 18.2(b) above (i.e., Years 11-15), such fees and costs shall be capped at a maximum of $155,655 each year.
(d) For the five fiscal years following the period set forth in Section 18.2(c) above (i.e., Years 16-20), such fees and costs shall be capped at a maximum of $179,470 each year.
(e) For the five fiscal years following the period set forth in Section 18.2(d) above (i.e., Years 21-25), such fees and costs shall be capped at a maximum of $206,928 each year.
(f) For the five fiscal years following the period set forth in Section 18.2(e) above (i.e., Years 26-30), such fees and costs shall be capped at a maximum of $238,587 each year.
18.3. All requests by Class Counsel for payment of reasonable and necessary monitoring fees and costs must be submitted to the City in writing, and shall be subject to the same standard rules and procedures then applicable to the City’s payment of attorneys’ fees and costs to outside counsel. Class Counsel shall only be paid for monitoring fees and costs actually and reasonably incurred and necessary to monitoring of the implementation of the Settlement Agreement. Class Counsel shall use the following maximum rates for the Inspections: $550 per hour for partners, $400 per hour for associates, and $195 per hour for paralegals. These hourly rates shall increase at the rate of 2.5% per year of the Compliance Period to account for inflation.
1 For the first through fifth year of the Compliance Period, class counsel in the Carter/Fahmie Action shall be entitled to participate in the meetings, inspections and monitoring discussed herein, as they relate to curb ramps. Class counsel in the Carter/Fahmie Action shall be entitled to receive up to a maximum of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) annually for attorney’s fees reasonably and necessarily spent on their Monitoring of the Carter/Fahmie settlement, subject to the provisions of Section 18.3 herein. Said payments shall be made from the funds allocated in Section 18.2(a) for the first and second year of the Compliance Period. In the third through fifth years of the Compliance Period, said payments shall be made from the Annual Commitment as set forth in Section 12.11(h).
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