Opinions Seem to Vary Among Orange County Attorneys Representing Districts.
In the June 19, 2010 edition of The Orange County Register, Annie Burris, Teri Sforza and Tony Saavedra have written an article entitled “Trustee on transparency crusade.”
Among other things, it explores the topic of whether legal billings to Orange County school districts are public information or confidential because the billings may contain entries that expose information potentially protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine.
For example, attorneys advising Ocean View and the Anaheim City School District want to keep legal billing details close to the vest so not to reveal certain legal strategizing. (Ocean View will divulge the total hours worked and amount spent, but that is all.) In contrast, other attorneys advising such school districts as Fullerton Union, Brea Olinda, Centralia, Los Alamitos, Fountain Valley, Savannah and Buena Park believe that the information is public in nature and that public spending cannot be kept secret.
Even while this debate apparently rages on, the authors of the article promise to detail some of the legal bills from various Orange County school districts, tantalizing us with the end sentence—“We’re not talking chump change here.” So, a future post is likely in the offing based on the ending promise of these journalists.