Major Accomplishments Highlights

Completed Transactional Projects

• Revenue Recovery for the Department of Watershed Management: Recovered $1.73M from water/sewer collections for past due bills; $1.2M from Invest Atlanta for environmental remediation at Cook Park; and $11M in revenue via Watershed’s bill amnesty program.The recovered funds will support Watershed’s capital improvements, administrative programs, and financial standing.
• Due Compensation Telecom Revenue Recovery: Pursued two telecom providers that were in violation of Georgia law due compensation requirements to remit payments to the City for use of its municipal rights-of-way.By aggressively demanding the amounts owed, the Department of Law recovered over $96,000 from one telecom provider and over $37,000 from a second telecom provider. The Department of Law will continue to pursue telecom companies that fail to submit timely and accurate due compensation payments.
• Airport Capital Improvement Program: Drafted, negotiated, and finalized a $33.5M contract for construction services related to the development of the Central Passenger Terminal Complex and Airport Fire Life Safety Enhancement projects in support of the ATLNext Capital Improvement Program at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
• Centers of Hope: Reviewed, negotiated, and finalized multiple contracts to support the City’s Centers of Hope After-School Program which seeks to empower our youth in a positive way through a combination of homework assistance and academic enrichment activities and extracurricular activities.
• Property Acquisitions: Closed on the acquisition of a record number of approximately 300 acres of property on behalf of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
• Midnight Basketball League Agreement: Secured a license agreement with the Association of Midnight Basketball allowing the establishment of a Midnight Basketball League in the City of Atlanta for the purpose of developing strong positive character among youth and young adults, ages 13-25, through violence prevention and youth stability programs and activities.
• New ADA Process: Produced a city-wide system and uniform process for efficiently processing employees’ Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) accommodation requests. The Department of Law created templates to standardize DHR’s communications and ensure legal compliance. To provide a generalized knowledge share about the ADA, the Department of Law delivered training sessions that also facilitated an explanation of the newly refurbished system and allowed City’s DHR professionals to discuss hypothetical scenarios and engage in role plays designed to mimic common ADA issues that may be encountered at the city.
• “Light up the Night” Streetlight Project: Negotiated the terms of an agreement allowing Georgia Power Company to purchase and service over 9,000 City of Atlanta owned streetlights.Transferring ownership and maintenance responsibilities of the streetlights allows for greater visibility on right-of-way across the city, furthering Mayor Dickens’ goal of reducing crime and traffic accidents in identified high-need neighborhoods where lights are repaired or added, while also reducing the City’s energy costs and carbon footprint.
• Emergency Construction: Completed a critical $7M emergency construction contract on behalf of the Atlanta Department of Transportation for the replacement of the Cheshire Bridge Road over South Fork Peachtree Creek, which was demolished in August 2021 due to a natural gas fire.
• Concourse D Widening: Developed an amendment to the Airport Use and Lease Agreement and related legislation for the Airport’s $1.4Billon widening of Concourse D, one of its 7 concourses.
• Public Safety Training Center: Continued to support the Atlanta Police Department and the Executive Offices, providing advice and counsel related to the security of the property and construction personnel, and communications for the Key Road site in collaboration with the Atlanta Police Foundation and APD’s external partners.
• Tree Protection Ordinance Phase 1: Prepared drafts and worked with the Department of City Planning, with the guidance of the Administration, to pass a “Phase 1” update to the Tree Protection Ordinance.
• Homeless Court Program (HCP) MOU: Drafted an MOU between the Office of Grants and Community Development and the Municipal Court as the service provider for the City of Atlanta, to administer and support the operation of the Municipal Court of Atlanta – Transitional Supportive Housing, Homeless Court Program (“HCP”).
• Carbon credit program: Developed the legal framework for implementing the first ever municipal carbon credit program in Georgia. The program will create carbon credits from City-owned forested land that will generate income from the sale of those credits on the open market. This conservation, in conjunction with the carbon credits will assist the city in meeting its sustainability, resilience, and climate change goals.
• Implementation of CID Procurement Legislation: Led the negotiation and execution of multiple complex agreements for the implementation of Community Improvement District (“CID”) procurements, which authorize CIDs to manage procurement and project delivery according to certain qualifications and performance criteria. Implementing CID-managed procurement (“CID-P”) allows the city to save valuable procurement resources, re-allocating internal project management resources and allowing for faster project delivery for partnership projects under the Moving Atlanta Forward Program.

   

  Bond Transactions

• Airport Financing: Completed financing for the Airport for a total of approximately $1.5 Billion in financing for projects, which included the issuance of Bonds for $577M and renewal of the commercial paper program for $950M.
• Series 2021 B & C Bonds: Provided advice and counsel regarding and assisted with the drafting of legislation authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $3,420,000 and refunding general obligation bonds in the amount of $188,500,000.
• General Obligation Bonds: Completed the financing for the General Obligation Public Improvement Bonds Series, 2022 A-1 (Social Bonds) and Series 2022A-2 in an aggregate amount of $406 million.These Social Bonds are the first ever issued by the City and included a third-party verification incorporated within the bond documents.
• Infrastructure/TSPLOST Referenda: Provided legal guidance and support in drafting the TSPLOST referenda and the general obligation bonds. The citizens of Atlanta voted and approved the referenda, which will allow the city to use up to $700 million over the next five years for infrastructure projects.

   

  Litigation Success

• In calendar year 2022, the Litigation Division’s attorneys and staff worked on 971 cases involving the city.Significantly, 811 (84%) of those cases were handled by the Division without the assistance of outside counsel.The following reflects a few of the Litigation Division’s settlement statistics and litigation victories during the past year.

   

  Litigation Division

• Due to early case assessment and aggressive motion practices, the city settled many cases prior to trial and for substantially less than the amount demanded by Plaintiffs.In 2022, Plaintiffs collectively demanded $102.9M to settle litigation matters prior to trial.In contrast, during the same year the city paid only (less than 15% of the demanded amount) $14.2M in settlements.
• Jury Verdict in Favor of City in Reverse Employment Discrimination Suit (Joyner et al v. City): In a reverse discrimination lawsuit filed in federal court where the Plaintiff demanded $750,000 to settle prior to trial, the city won a complete defense verdict.This victory affirmed that the Atlanta Police Department’s promotion policies and practices are fair and non-discriminatory. Moreover, it saved the city approximately $1,000,000 in damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees.
• 11th Circuit Affirms Win in Sexual Harassment Suit - (Banks, et al. v. City of Atlanta, et al.): Successfully defended the city by winning summary judgment in a federal sexual harassment suit in which four Plaintiffs sought $4 million dollars in damages.The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court decision to dismiss Plaintiffs’ claims against the city.This victory confirmed that the city’s anti-sexual harassment policies and practices are effective and will make it more difficult for employees to bring baseless and costly sexual harassment suits against the city going forward.
• Dismissal of First Amendment and Whistle Blower Suit by Former Employee - (Terry Riggins v. City of Atlanta, et al.): The city prevailed on its motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s claim that she was wrongfully terminated by the city for making public statements about the city’s water supply.This victory at summary judgment saved the city from expending additional funds on costs and fees to try this case and removed the city’s potential exposure to a high dollar jury verdict.Moreover, because the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the city’s summary judgment, it is now more difficult for employees to win suits alleging wrongful termination after making derogatory public comments concerning a city department.
• Dismissal of First Amendment Lawsuit Concerning Public Comments at Council/Committee Meetings (Cardinale v. City of Atlanta): The Eleventh Circuit upheld the District Court’s determination that the city’s policy prohibiting elective office candidates from campaigning during the public comment period does not violate the First Amendment.This was the city’s first favorable Eleventh Circuit victory against a serial plaintiff who routinely files baseless and costly suits against the city. The city’s increasingly effective and aggressive defense against this, and other suits filed by this plaintiff, should ultimately discourage the filing of more frivolous complaints, and proportionally reduce the cost and expenses that the city incurs to defend against these actions.
• Dismissal of Ad Valorem Tax Matter (Chrenick, et al. v. City of Atlanta, et al.): The city secured the dismissal of a federal suit alleging it improperly failed to collect ad valorem taxes from the Botanical Gardens.This means the city is not impermissibly treating the Botanical Gardens differently than the Atlanta citizenry with respect to the collection of ad valorem taxes.Further, because this federal suit was dismissed, the city will not be required to pay the Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees.

   

  Interpleader/Quiet Title Actions

• The Litigation Division successfully recouped funds due the city in the amount of $1,149,018 in interpleader and quiet title actions filed in Fulton County Superior Court.This amount is primarily comprised of the recovery of demolition lien costs incurred by the city in abating nuisances in our communities and a substantial portion of the amount recovered includes a 1% per month penalty assessed on unpaid demolition lien costs.Funds recovered for delinquent and unpaid water bills are also included in the amount recovered.The city was named a respondent and served in a total of 341 of these matters during this period.

   

  Claims Division

• The claims team resolved 932 claims. Of the 932 claims resolved, the team denied 836 claims and settled 96 claims for payments totaling in the amount of $334,165. This represents a payout rate of approximately .0625% of the $5,339,006 cumulative demanded amount.

   

  Best-in-Class Legal Department

• DOL Continuing Legal Education: The Professional Development Committee hosted its annual Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) seminar in March.There were over 85 attendees, including licensed attorneys from various City departments including the Solicitor’s Office, Office of Inspector General, Ethics, and the Department of Procurement among others.Attorneys earned 7 of the required 12 CLE annual hours.

   

  Employee Accomplishments

• Nina Hickson serves on the Board of the International Municipal Lawyers Association.
• Robert Moses was appointed Adjunct Professor to teach Introduction to U.S. Law in the Master of Laws program at Georgia State University College of Law for Fall 2022.
• Joshua Foster was selected to the State Bar of Georgia’s 2021-2022 Labor & Employment Section’s Mentorship Academy.
• Martin Clarke was recognized as and received an award for Man of Influence by the Atlanta Business League.
• Amber Robinson was appointed to serve on the Municipal Market Board of Directors. Her appointment was confirmed by the Atlanta City Council.
• Jonathan Futrell was a guest lecturer at the Georgia State University College of Law where he presented on the recent updates to the City’s Impact Fee Program.
• Stefanie Grant successfully concluded three years of service as an officer on the Georgia Municipal Association Board of Directors.
• Donna Wilson serves on the Executive Council of The Links, Incorporated and Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee.