Vinson & Elkins Agrees to $4.35M Settlement in San Diego Pension Suit
Vinson & Elkins has agreed to pay $4.35 million to settle a lawsuit by the city of San Diego that contended the law firm’s probe into pension problems was incompetent.
Vinson & Elkins admits no wrongdoing in the settlement, which calls for a $3.25 million payment and the forgiveness of $1.1 million in outstanding bills, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
The city hired the law firm to investigate San Diego’s financial disclosure practices and pension woes stemming from its decision to increase employee pension benefits while cutting funding. Vinson & Elkins also represented the city before the Securities and Exchange Commission. Critics charged the law firm’s dual role created a conflict because an aggressive investigation would harm the city’s stance before the SEC, the Union-Tribune story says.
Both the SEC and the city’s auditor concluded the law firm’s reports, which found no wrongdoing, were unacceptable because of the conflict, the story says. The city had agreed to pay Vinson & Elkins $6.3 million for the legal work. It later hired risk-management firm Kroll Inc. at a cost of $20 million to conduct an investigative report.
After the lawsuit was filed, V&E had released a statement saying the complaint was full of inaccuracies and its work for the city had been “competently and professionally performed,” the Am Law Daily reports. “None of the work that it performed harmed the city in any way,” the statement said.
