REMARKS
Lincoln Restler discusses the decrease in staffing levels at the New York City Law Department
1:51:35
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68 sec
There has been an 18% decrease in the number of lawyers in the New York City Law Department over the last 5 years, impacting the department's capacity to handle its workload.
- In FY19, the department had 1970 staff members, which has decreased to 1460 as of January.
- The current staffing includes 765 assistant court councils and 665 legal support professionals.
- Despite the reduction in staff, the workload of the department has increased.
- The speaker emphasizes the importance of investing in the law department to prevent slowdowns in other city agencies.
Lincoln Restler
1:51:35
And we'll certainly dig in on some of the contractor OTPS work but it's not just a question of ODPS.
1:51:44
We're seeing significant shifts in the law department headcount.
1:51:46
You know, when you look back to FY19, pre pandemic, Eric can remember these days well.
1:51:52
Mhmm.
1:51:52
The law department had a head count of 1970.
1:51:56
As of January we saw it at 14 60 and you testified today that there were 765 assistant court councils and 665 legal support professionals.
1:52:10
That's a 18% decrease in a 5 year period in the number of lawyers that we have on staff.
1:52:14
That is a huge reduction.
1:52:16
More than 1 out of 6 lawyers in law department has disappeared in the last 5 years, and yet you all have more work to do than you did back then.
1:52:24
For a long time, the law department had celebrate was celebrated as the largest law firm in the New York City, the people's law firm.
1:52:31
But that's how our are true.
1:52:32
Kirkland and Ellis has more attorneys than the law department.
1:52:35
That's crazy, and that is wrong.
1:52:37
And we should be investing in the department because when the law department doesn't have capacity, every other agency in city government has slowed down.