Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout000266 Original ContractAGREEMENT FOR INDIGENT LEGAL DEFENSE SERVICES City of Port Angeles Record #000266 THIS AGREEMENT is entered into between the City of Port Angeles (hereinafter called "City and the Clallam Public Defender (hereinafter called "Contractor this (4.19 day of December, 2011. REPRESENTATIONS 1. The City requires the professional services of the Contractor in order to provide indigent representation for misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor defendants that are prosecuted by the City of Port Angeles and under circumstances that legal defense is required either under the Constitution of the United States or under the Constitution and laws of the State of Washington. 2. The Contractor is qualified and capable of meeting the professional standards for providing criminal defense and related services for indigent misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor defendants facing commitment or incarceration for offenses prosecuted by the City of Port Angeles. Contractor participates in regular training programs on public defense law including a minimum of seven hours of continuing education annually in areas relating to their public defense practice or as otherwise may be mandated by court rule. AGREEMENTS NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of specified legal services to be provided by the Contractor and the monetary payments to be made to the Contractor by the City, as herein provided, the parties hereby agree as follows: 1. Term of Agreement. This Agreement shall be in effect from the first day of January, 2012 through the 31st day of December, 2013; provided, however, in the event the state adopts legislation that requires a substantial change in the services provided under this Agreement, either party may give notice of termination. This Agreement shall terminate 60 days following the date such notice is given. 2. Scone of Work. The Contractor shall provide criminal defense and related services for indigent misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor defendants and certain other persons facing commitment or incarceration for offenses prosecuted by the City of Port Angeles. The Contractor's obligation to provide services, and the City's obligation to pay for such services, under this Agreement shall be limited to cases or matters in which the District Court having jurisdiction over the case or matter makes a specific determination that the defendant is eligible for appointed counsel and appoints Contractor to the case or matter by court order. The Contractor acknowledges and agrees that it will share the assignment of defense clients with another agency and that such sharing of assignments will be on a 50/50 basis with each agency accepting alternating weekly assignments of defense clients. -1- The Contractor has the right, for good cause shown and with the Court's permission, to decline to represent or discontinue representing any individual, who by his or her request, action, conduct, or financial ability, waives the right to the assistance of counsel at public expense. In the event of a conflict of interest arising and precluding Contractor from representing a client, and upon a finding by the Court that such conflict exists and precludes Contractor from representing the defendant court designation of another attorney to represent the client, shall be at the expense of the City. The Contractor will continue active representation and will complete cases which were assigned in the calendar year covered by the term of this contract with due diligence, and in the event that the Contractor is not awarded the contract for the following calendar year, the Contractor shall then be compensated at the hourly rate of $35.00 per hour. In the event that work is necessary on carryover cases and the Contractor is not awarded the contract, Contractor will be responsible for keeping a record of time worked under the term of this contract on cases for the City and must submit a monthly itemized statement of hours worked and request for payment to the City. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to impair or inhibit the exercise of independent professional judgment when an attorney /client privilege has been established, nor shall this Agreement require or authorize any attorney to engage in conduct prohibited by the Code of Professional Responsibility. In order to make sure that the Contractor's caseload is being handled efficiently and in cooperation with the efforts of the District Court and the City Attorney's Office, the Contractor agrees to comply with the following guidelines to the extent possible: a. A Contractor will provide a defense attorney to attend each daily in- custody calendar and at all hearings and other court appearances on cases to which the attorney has been appointed under this Agreement. b. The Contractor shall meet with the client and discuss the City Prosecutor's plea offer within one week of arraignment for in- custody defendants and prior to the readiness hearing for out of custody defendants. c. The Contractor shall attend the arraignment for each case and be prepared to respond to the plea offer. d. To the maximum extent practicable, the Contractor shall arrange for backup coverage for defense attorneys who are unable to make scheduled court appearances due to vacation or other such reasons that allow advance notice, in order to minimize continuances. e. Contractor shall use its best efforts to review the Clallam County Jail roster on a daily basis to determine whether clients are incarcerated and shall consult with incarcerated clients as soon as possible to represent their interests. f. Contractor shall provide to the Port Angeles Police Department the telephone number or numbers at which a defense attorney may be reached for "critical stage" advice to defendants during the course of police investigations and/or arrest twenty -four (24) hours each day. 3. Case Weighting. Each appointment for a single defendant alleging a violation of terms or conditions of probation shall equal one quarter (1/4) of a case. Each appointment on a DWLS shall count as one quarter (1/4) case unless the case actually goes to trial, in which case it shall count as one (1) case. All other matters except as set forth below shall count as a single full case. A case filed with a single incident date would be counted as a single case up to a total of four charges out of a single incident/offense date. Cases filed with multiple charges alleged to have taken place over a span of more than a single date will be counted as one case for each offense date such that, for example, were a person to be charged with 3 violations of a no contact order during a single month, and those violations each is determined to have to be alleged to have taken place on different days within that month, it would count as three cases. 4. Comnensation. City agrees to pay Contractor $42,500.00 for representation of 50% of City cases where defendants are found to be qualified for appointment of indigent defense legal counsel, up to 300 cases, as defined herein. Payment shall be made on a monthly basis with each monthly payment equal to 1/12 of the total amount stated herein. Should the 300 case benchmark be reached before the end of the calendar year, Contractor agrees that it will continue to accept case appointments. In the event case appointments are accepted in excess of 300 in a calendar year, then Contractor shall be entitled to additional compensation on a pro -rata basis based upon the current yearly rate. Based on the case benchmark of 300 cases for the year 2013, payment from the City to the Contractor shall be $42,500.00 plus CPI -U adjusted increase based upon the Seattle- Bremerton- Tacoma Index (but no less than 2% nor more than 5% increase) for calendar year 2013 to be made on a monthly basis with each monthly payment equal to 1 /12th of the total amount stated herein. 5. Independent Contractor. The status of the Contractor hereunder is that of an independent contractor and the Contractor shall not be construed to be an employee or employees of the City of Port Angeles. As an independent contractor, the Contractor is not entitled to any benefits available to employees of the City, and the Contractor is responsible for withholding any monies required to be withheld from Contractor's employees pursuant to local, state or federal law, including but not limited to worker's compensation, social security, income taxes, use taxes and business and occupations taxes collected by the State of Washington. 6. Renorts/Records. Contractor shall report on a monthly bases as to the number and types of cases it has been appointed under this contract. The City shall have the right to reasonably audit business records of the Contractor (exclusive of attorney client confidential records) which are relevant to the performance of this -3- Agreement. Such review may occur upon thirty days notice to the Contractor, and may include, but not be limited to, on -site inspection by City agents or employees of all financial and non privileged records or other materials which are pertinent to this Agreement and its performance, and any and all non privileged communications relevant to the performance of this Agreement. The Contractor shall preserve and maintain all financial records and records relating to the performance of this Agreement for three years after contract termination and shall make such records available for review by the City upon request. 7. Modifications. Either party may request changes in the Agreement; however, any and all modifications shall be in writing and signed by each of the parties. 8. Default. In the event that the Contractor defaults by failing to perform any of the obligations of this Agreement, the City shall have available all contractual remedies under the laws of the State of Washington. If the City chooses to terminate the Agreement for default by the Contractor, the City may at its option obtain performance of the work elsewhere and shall be entitled to recover any extra cost or damage to the City resulting from such default by deduction from any money due or coming to the Contractor. The Contractor shall bear any extra expenses incurred by the City in completing the work, including all increased costs for completing the work, and all damage sustained, or which may be sustained by the City by reason of such default. 9. Nondiscrimination. The Contractor shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, marital status, Vietnam era veteran's status, disabled veteran condition, physical or mental handicap, or national origin. 10. Indemnification/Hold Harmless. The Contractor shall defend, indemnify and hold the City, its officers, officials, employees and volunteers harmless from any and all claims, injuries, damages, losses or suits including attorney fees, arising out of or in connection with the performance of this Agreement, except for injuries and damages caused by the sole negligence of the City. 11. Insurance. The Contractor shall procure and maintain for the duration of this Agreement a policy of professional liability insurance providing coverage of at least $1,000,000 against professional liability in connection with the work to be performed by Contractor under this Agreement. 12. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington, and in the event of dispute the venue of any litigation brought hereunder shall be Clallam County. IN WITNESS THEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the day and year first written above. CITY/OF\PORT ANGELES CLA• ATTEST: BY -,tea, 4 Dan DiGuilio, Mayor APPROVED AS TO FO William E. Bloor, City Attorney sa Hurd, City Clerk C,' Print name. G \LEGAL\a AGREEMENTS &CONTRACTS\2011 Agrmts &Contracts\Public Defender 112611 wpd