Auditors following up on a performance review conducted five years ago report significant improvement in management and operation of the city legal department.

“The original review included 50 recommendations for improvement. As of today, nearly 70% of those recommendations have been fully or partially implemented, or addressed through alternative solutions,” said City Controller Annise Parker. “We routinely perform follow-up reviews to determine whether departments are making progress in implementing recommendations identified in previous reports. The improvements made by the legal department are exactly what we hope to find when we revisit an audit.”

The performance review issued in August of 2000 concluded that, although the legal department was hard working, well managed and generally efficient, there were significant opportunities for improvement in communication, compensation, responsiveness, productivity, and technology. The department was also cited for exhibiting a “naysayer” attitude rather than facilitating the objectives of city council and the mayor. Since the original review, the department has initiated new training programs, teaching attorneys to offer positive alternatives when proposals must be rejected for legal reasons. Staff meetings and client satisfaction surveys are helping to open and improve the lines of communication. Through streamlining operations, the department has been able to reduce duplication of effort, speed up the review process and improve responsiveness. There have also been significant improvements in technology.

Unfortunately, staff turnover and compensation are still of concern. The department wholeheartedly agrees with the auditors’ conclusion that city lawyers and legal assistants are significantly under-compensated. Additional funding has been requested in every budget submission since the original review. However, due to fiscal constraints, those requests have been denied.

The initial performance review of the legal department was conducted by Altman Weil at the request of Houston City Council. Voter approval of Proposition 3 last November grants the controller’s office the independent authority to conduct performance reviews, thus eliminating the need for the approval of city council or the mayor’s office.

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