A judge hit the city with another multimillion dollar judgment Monday, awarding nearly $19 million in penalties and interest to a construction company that had sued to collect payment for work it did on a water treatment project. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman awarded $15 million in penalties and $3.7 million in interest to Dillingham Ray Wilson and its subcontractors, who completed work in 1998 on the Hyperion treatment plant project, part of the city's effort to clean up Santa Monica Bay. Last week, a jury awarded the companies $12.3 million for the unpaid contract balance. The city's cost ...

Almost four years after firing an investigator who questioned whether hired-gun lawyers from a politically connected firm were bungling the city of Los Angeles' defense in a lawsuit, the city has lost that case and may have to pay the plaintiffs up to $30 million. Last week, a jury awarded $12.3 million to construction company Dillingham-Ray Wilson for work done a decade ago on the Hyperion treatment plant project, part of the city's effort to clean up Santa Monica Bay. The city spent a total of $10.6 million on its contract with the private lawyers, according to Jonathan Diamond, a spokesman for ...

They win their federal lawsuit claiming false arrest by the LAPD and malicious prosecution. A juror cites a lack of 'any hard evidence.' By Scott Glover and Matt Lait, Times Staff Writers A federal jury on Thursday awarded $15 million to three Los Angeles police officers who alleged they were falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted during the Rampart corruption scandal that roiled the LAPD for years beginning in 1999. The jury award represents a bitter pill for the city, which already has doled out about $70 million in Rampart-related settlements to gang members, drug dealers and other victims of police abuse - ...