> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # SM covers its backside - URL: https://www.smdp.com/sm-covers-its-backside-2/ - Published: 2002-09-17T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:44:19.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Community, Santa Monica, #archive-import *City covered up to $20M* Dozens of people provide a swarming defense for the City of Santa Monica each time it gets sued. They are there for two reasons: To protect the city, and provide a deterrent against those thinking of knocking over City Hall. The city has a host of weapons to protect the public’s money from being squandered on frivolous claims, officials say. Santa Monica is ready to take on legal battles big and small. It has its own attorneys, its own insurance and an entire department assigned to reducing the city’s liability. “We have enough to justify in house,” said Tom Phillips, who heads up the city’s risk management department. “We can do better and at a lower cost with better results.” Unique to many cities of its size, Santa Monica has its own criminal prosecutors and attorneys. It’s fairly common for cities to contract with law firms and have only one city attorney. Santa Monica has 23 lawyers and a risk management department, which acts like an insurance company that investigates and adjusts claims. The benefit of having experienced attorneys on staff instead of hiring outside counsel is twofold. They will give city officials more objective advice, and they will give officials reliable predictions on likely outcomes, said City Attorney Marsha Moutrie. Moutrie points out that the city needs lawyers who will be honest, while outside attorneys generally bill more hours and will often tell city officials what they think they want to hear. “I think it would be much more expensive to contract out than to have in-house counsel,” she said. “It’s unusual for a city of this size to have in-house counsel but it’s unusual to get sued this much.” The city attorney’s office has many divisions including criminal misdemeanor prosecution, civil liability, consumer affairs and municipal law. Santa Monica has chosen to prosecute all of its misdemeanor cases instead of contracting with the District Attorney’s office in an attempt to get faster justice for its citizenry. About one-third of the city attorney’s office is dedicated to law enforcement and criminal prosecutions while another third deals with civil liability cases. The criminal cases, which usually involve domestic violence, drunk driving and petty theft prosecutions, are resolved much more quickly because they’re handled within the city, Moutrie said. As a result, the city can control the quality of life for residents and citizens better, she asserted. If those cases were sent through the District Attorney’s office, many would never see the light of day because of its heavy caseload. If a business owner is the victim of a shoplifter, his or her chances of being reimbursed by the thief are far greater if the case is prosecuted within the city, Moutrie said. “The DA’s office wouldn’t touch them,” she said. “I can’t believe the DA’s office would have the resources to prosecute all of them.” The city attorney’s office focuses its other resources on two full-time attorneys in the consumer affairs division, which enforces tenant harassment, weight and measure laws and the state’s anti-smoking laws in bars and restaurants, among other things. The city dedicates six attorneys to its civil liability division, which involves litigation seeking monetary damages. The city’s risk management team examines the estimated 600 claims filed each year and either adjusts them or sends them to the city attorney’s office for litigation. Phillips said between 35 and 50 claims are filed each month against the city. “We don’t get involved in ordinance challenges or breach of contracts,” he said. “The typical claims are trip-and-falls and bus accidents. We’ll make a determination of whether to settle the claim or dismiss it. We adjust the claim just like an insurance company would.” > “We don’t get involved in ordinance challenges or breach of contracts. The typical claims are trip-and-falls and bus accidents.” — — TOM PHILLIPS City’s risk manager The risk management department budgets each year for potential liabilities and damages it guesses will be paid out. Because the city is heavily self-insured, it must be able to financially anticipate and project losses from legal claims, Phillips said. “You make educated guesses and try to be accurate as we can,” he said. “But when you are dealing with claims and litigation there are always uncertainties. You don’t know what judges and juries will do.” Risk management’s primary job, however, is to minimize potential liability for the city. Phillips said his department’s job is to look at areas where the city is open for liability and find trends relating to where the claims originate. If there are a high number of claims stemming from auto and bus accidents involving city vehicles, then it’s risk management’s job to look at the city policies regarding them. Or, if there are a high number of cases that involve trip-and-fall injuries, risk management investigates how departments manage their public works projects where people may get hurt as a result of construction or unsafe conditions. “When you are self-insured you determine your own destiny,” Phillips said. “We try to minimize the impacts.” Moutrie said the system works not only because risk management scrutinizes each claim, but also points out the city’s weaknesses. Such an analysis can ultimately benefit both the taxpayer’s pocketbook and safety. “We are always looking at why we are being sued,” she said. “Are there things that we could do to decrease our exposure? If we see an area we try to fix it.” The city attorney’s office and risk management will charge other departments for time spent on claims that originate from them so managers are keenly aware of liabilities that have been created as a result of their practices or policies. The city is part of a risk-sharing program with 10 other California cities to protect itself against potentially huge losses. The system was set up in the mid 1980s when commercial insurance costs skyrocketed. Insurance companies all over the country jacked up their premiums and limited their coverage. “What happened was municipalities were opened up to liability,” Phillips said. Santa Monica, along with other cities like Anaheim and Palo Alto, pooled their resources together to purchase one large insurance policy. But then in the 1990s, the insurance industry dropped its rates. Risk sharing disappeared for the latter part of the decade. But since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the nature of insurance has changed once again and Santa Monica has gone back to a risk sharing program. Any claim over $1 million is paid by the Joint Powers Authority fund, which has coverage up to $20 million, Phillips said. “The benefit is that we stand 11 tall,” he said, referring to the number of cities in the joint powers deal. “We strategically finance our risks according to the market.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 17, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/091702.pdf?ref=smdp.com)