Report Shows Lawsuits Cost Taxpayers Big Money

Sacramento, CA -- A new report shows the price that major California cities and counties pay to deal with legal disputes and litigation.

The California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse found that eight of the state's largest cities and nine of its largest counties spent $504.1 million to deal with lawsuits over the past two fiscal years.

CALA describes itself as "a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to educating the public about the negative effects of lawsuit abuse and challenging those who abuse our legal system for personal gain."

"California has 58 counties and 480 cities, so this is just the tip of the iceberg," says Marko Mlikotin, CALA Executive Director. "With devastating budget cuts hitting cities and counties up and down the state, there are countless other ways this money could have been spent."

CALA compiled the report from public information requests, and focused on the cities of Los Angeles, Anaheim, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Fresno, San Diego, San Jose and Oakland, and the counties of Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara and San Francisco.

"Lawsuits are eating up dollars left and right," says Greg Applegate, Sonora City Administrator. "They are job killers that are not only affecting government, but also small businesses."

The report was released earlier this week.

Written by bjhansen@mlode.com.