Agenda Item AGENDA STAFF REPORT ASR Control 25-000012
MEETING DATE:	02/11/25
legal entity taking action:	Board of Supervisors and Orange County Flood Control District
board of supervisors district(s):	All Districts
SUBMITTING Agency/Department:	County Counsel (Approved)
Department contact person(s):	Leon J. Page (714) 834-3300
	Nicole M. Walsh (714) 834-3300

Subject: Update Legal Rates for Outside Eminent Domain Counsel

ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

Concur

Approved Agreement to Form

Discussion

3 Votes Board Majority

Budgeted: Yes

Current Year Cost: See Financial Impact Section

Annual Cost: See Financial Impact Section

Staffing Impact:

# of Positions:

Sole Source: N/A

Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

Funding Source: See Financial Impact Section	County Audit in last 3 years: No
Levine Act Review Completed: Yes

Prior Board Action: 1/14/2025 #40, 3/28/2023 #45, 3/8/2022 #39, 1/25/2022 #31

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

Approve Amendment 2 to Attachment A, Compensation, Invoicing and Payment for the Legal Services Agreements with Murphy & Evertz LLP for agreements related to the Prado Dam Property Acquisition Project.

Approve Amendment 2 to Attachment B, Compensation, Invoicing and Payment for the Legal Services Agreements with Burke Williams & Sorensen, LLP for agreements related to the Prado Dam Property Acquisition Project.

Approve Amendment to Attachment C, Compensation, Invoicing and Payment for the Legal Services Agreements with BDG Law Group for agreements related to the Brookhurst Street Widening and OC Bike Loop Segments D and O, P, Q Projects, effective March 1, 2025.

Authorize County Counsel or his designee to execute the agreements.

SUMMARY:

Approval of amendments of the Legal Services Agreements is required to retain the expertise of the eminent domain law firms that are providing specialized legal services in support of the Prado Dam Real Property Acquisition Project, the Brookhurst Street Widening Project, and the Orange County Bike Loop Project.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Murphy & Evertz LLP (M&E) and Burke Williams & Sorensen, LLP (BWS), represent the Orange County Flood Control District, most recently in matters concerning the Santa Ana River Mainstem Project, including Santiago Creek and the Prado Dam as well as other matters as needed on behalf of the Orange County Flood Control District (District).

On February 6, 2018, the Board authorized County Counsel to execute Legal Services Agreements with M&E and BWS, among others. Since that time the firms have been actively involved in the District’s real property acquisition program for the Prado Dam spillway raise. The District's Santa Ana River Mainstem/Prado Dam Project (Project) will raise the Prado Dam flood basin and expand the potential inundation area up to 566 feet above sea level.

With Board approval, the Attorneys have been filing eminent domain actions to obtain the required real estate interests in approximately 50 properties in Riverside and San Bernardino counties beginning in late 2019 as part of the Project. Many of the eminent domain actions remain ongoing. The Attorneys have been instrumental in meeting deadlines for acquisition set by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and in assuring that the District’s eminent domain actions are successfully concluded.

BDG Law Group (BDG) represents the County in eminent domain matters concerning the Brookhurst Street Widening and the Orange County Bike Loop (OC Bike Loop) projects, as well as other matters as they arise. BDG has also represented the County on Prado Dam matters. On March 8, 2022, the Board authorized County Counsel to execute a Legal Services Agreement with BDG for eminent domain matters concerning OC Bike Loop Carbon Canyon Channel Bikeway Gap Closure Segment D Project. On March 28, 2023, the Board authorized County Counsel to execute a Legal Services Agreement with BDG for eminent domain matters concerning the Brookhurst Street Widening Project. Finally, on January 14, 2025, the Board authorized County Counsel to execute a Legal Services Agreement with BDG for eminent domain matters concerning the OC Bike Loop Segments O, P, Q, Coyote Creek Bikeway Project. The rates charged by BDG for these three Legal Services Agreements were the same charged in 2022 when BSG’s contract with the District for Prado was amended to increase rates from 2018.

On January 25, 2022, the Board authorized an increase in rates over the 2018 rates for BWS, BDG, and M&E for the Prado Project and other eminent domain Legal Services Agreements. The rate increases at the time did not exceed $100 an hour for the various positions. Recently, BWS, BDG, and M&E have requested that the Board approve rate increases to reflect an increase based on the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County Consumer Price Index-All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”), using the CPI-U for each prior October as the base and the value to escalate the hourly rates in the ratio of the most recent October CPI-U value, rounded up to the nearest $5 increment. See Attachments A-C. The rate increases do not exceed $65 an hour for the various staffing levels and thus represent a modest 10% increase over the prior rates set three years ago. See Attachment D.

Attorneys’ fees incurred for the Prado Dam Real Property Acquisition Project are reimbursable by the Army Corps of Engineers and will be submitted for reimbursement as the various property acquisitions are completed.

Each firm has proposed different rates. We understand that significant market factors in the legal marketplace have impacted private law firms that seek to provide their clients with the highest quality legal services. Such factors include (among others) rapidly increasing rents and increasingly competitive salary demands to recruit and retain high quality attorney and administrative staff talent. These (and other) factors have caused Attorneys to request an adjustment to the hourly rates charged to the District and the County.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

The appropriations for the BWS and M&E Agreements are included in the FY 2024-25 Budget in OC Flood-Capital, Fund 404, and will be included in the budgeting process for future years. The Appropriations for the BDG Legal Services Agreements are included in the FY 2024-25 Budget in OC Road – Capital Improvements Projects, Fund 174. Legal services will be provided on an as-needed basis. The Office of County Counsel anticipates that the services provided by Eminent Domain Litigation and Advisory Counsel will vary from year to year.

STAFFING IMPACT:

N/A

REVIEWING AGENCIES:

OC Public Works

ATTACHMENT(S):

Attachment A - Amendment to Compensation, Invoicing & Payment for Murphy & Evertz
Attachment B - Amendment to Compensation, Invoicing & Payment for Burke, Williams & Sorensen
Attachment C – Amendment to Compensation, Invoicing & Payment for BDG for three Legal Services Agreements Concerning the Brookhurst Widening Project, OC Bike Loop Segment D, and OC Bike Loop Segments O, P, Q
Attachment D - Rate Comparison