LA bleeding money on outside legal fees — despite a $150M in-house payroll
By Jamie Paige
Published Dec. 18, 2025, 10:37 p.m. ET
Los Angeles City Hall is bleeding taxpayer money on outside private law firms — even as it already bankrolls one of the largest and most expensive municipal legal operations in the nation.
The City Attorney’s Office oversees more than 500 attorneys, backed by an in-house operation that costs taxpayers approximately $150 million a year.
By year’s end, the City Attorney projects $26.63 million in total outside legal costs.
But despite that legal firepower, the department expects to spend an eye-watering $26.63 million on outside counsel — almost five times more than what City Hall budgeted.
The City Attorney’s Office was allocated just $5.98 million for outside counsel in the FY 2025–26 budget, department spokesperson Hydee Feldstein Soto said, calling that figure “significantly lower” than what the office requested.
https://nypost.com/2025/12/18/us-news/la-bleeding-money-on-outside-legal-fees-despite-a-150m-in-house-payroll/
