Soaring city legal bills

The city of Los Angeles shelled out $137 million over the past two years for legal costs - nearly two times more than the previous two-year period and enough to hire nearly 1,300 police officers and cover most of the public works budget, according to a report released Monday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The study by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse also found the amount of money Los Angeles County spent on lawsuit verdicts, settlements and outside counsel rose from $138 million to $190 million in the same period.

"It's amazing that while endless programs are being cut and jobs are being lost, the city and county of Los Angeles are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on lawsuits," said Maryann Marino, regional director of the organization's Southern California branc