On July 17, 2013, PANO shared a letter, written by their attorney Eric Hessler, regarding the City’s decision not to provide representation to Jason Giroir in a law suit where he is the defendant. In his letter, Eric indicates that it is vitally important for officers to understand where they stand with this administration. The FOP agrees.
We strongly believe the City has an obligation to provide representation for civil actions resulting from the performance of your duty. However, if the City of New Orleans will not defend you, the Fraternal Order of Police will.
The FOP Legal Plan provides our members with coverage in any civil action instituted against them for actions taken in the course and scope of their employment (whether on-duty of off-duty) if the City does not. If the City accepts its responsibility to represent you, the FOP will still assign one of our four core attorneys to meet with you and the city attorney to assure there are no conflicts of interest and that you will receive proper representation.
In addition to our four core attorneys who work with police officers on a daily basis, the FOP Legal Plan also provides its members with a wider selection of attorneys with experience in all aspects of the law if needed.
If you are served with a civil law suit, call your FOP attorney. If you don’t have one that you speak to regularly, call FOP Legal Plan Chairman Jimmy Gallagher and we will help you figure which attorney is best to monitor and advise you on your situation.
When served with a civil law suit, you are required to notify the Superintendent. You can accomplish this by bringing a copy of the law suit to the Superintendent’s office. This should be done at the next earliest opportunity.
Once you have notified the Superintendent, you should also call the City Attorney’s office and find out who has been assigned to your case. If the City Attorney’s office says they will not be providing you a defense, you should stop talking to them immediately and contact your FOP attorney.
In addition to the civil coverage detailed above, the FOP offers full criminal coverage if any member is accused of criminal wrongdoing while on-duty, or while acting in the scope of employment while off-duty. Of course, we continue to offer legal coverage whenever an member is accused of an administrative violation.
The FOP also offers two hours of one of our core attorney’s time for personal legal services, and, for a nominal fee, the FOP offers Moonlighting Insurance that provides $100,000 in liability insurance in addition to legal coverage for members working paid details or secondary employment.
Our FOP core attorneys are:
Donovan Livaccari – 504-905-8280
Raymond Burkart, III – 504-920-0075
Claude Schlesinger – 504-920-4477
Ted Alpaugh – 504-481-1844
Download the FOP Crescent City Lodge App for your mobile phone today!
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