What Is Citigation?

Picture of Harvey L. Walner & Associates, Ltd.
Harvey L. Walner & Associates, Ltd.

June 15, 2016

a person holding a paper
Share

If you’re a lawyer or follow litigation news, you may have noticed a trend cropping up lately of municipalities teaming up with lawyers to file suits. The Wall Street Journal labels the practice “citigation”. The reasoning for all this is that small cities might not have access to great resources, so they often have to use outside counsel.

Some have concerns, however, when hearing about a city pairing with a law firm. What does this mean for citizens who pay taxes? Actually, nothing. According to experts, citigation requires no taxpayer funds. The money for litigation is provided by the plaintiffs’ firms.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that municipalities wouldn’t be paying a price. In some of these cases, the litigation can follow the private investors’ wants rather than those of the publics’, who initially sought this outside counsel. Citigation can run a very fine line of turning a case into something that might not have been the desired outcome due to the financial backing behind the suit.

Still, despite reservations that some city officials have, Paul Geller of leading firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, says that he sees new requests from municipalities for class-action lawyers on a weekly basis. With this information, it sounds like citigation may not be simply a new fad in litigation or a cutesy name, but a new legitimate way for small cities to go about pursuing lawsuits. For more information on citigation or industry news, feel free to contact us at Harvey Walner & Associates.

Related Posts

May 06th

Five-Vehicle Pileup on Route 47 Sends 10 to Hospitals, Leaves One Woman Critically Injured

Huntley, IL (May 3, 2025) – A Saturday evening crash near Foster Road and Route 47 turned into a five-vehicle chain reaction that injured…
May 05th

Two-Vehicle Crash Near Harvard Leaves One Critically Injured, Two Others Hurt

Harvard, IL (May 1, 2025) – A serious collision on Route 14 near Hebron Road in unincorporated McHenry County Thursday morning sent three people…
April 22nd

Austin Neighborhood High-Speed Crash Claims Two Lives, Injures Passenger

Chicago, IL (April 20, 2025) – A violent three-vehicle collision in the Austin neighborhood left two men dead and a woman fighting for her…
Get your Free Consultation
Take the first step towards justice and solidify your future.