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<br /> J ... <br /> . V. What does the open Heetinq Law Defense Cost Reimbursement <br /> Agreement oover? <br /> Under the new coverage, LMCIT will reimburse a city <br /> official for 80% of the defense cost incurred by the city <br /> official in defending an open Meeting Law lawsuit. The Open <br /> Meeting Law Defense Costs Reimbursement Agreement is limited to <br /> $20,000. This is the most LMeIT will reimburse anyone city <br /> official for defense costs for Open Meeting Law lawsuits <br /> commenced during the term of the coverage agreement, regardless <br /> of the number of lawsuits or the number of actual alleged <br /> violations. <br /> VJ:. what doesn't it oover? <br /> There are two major kinds of costs for Which this coverage would <br /> not reimburse the official: <br /> 1- Any fine or penalty for violating the open meeting law. <br /> 2. Any award that orders the city official to pay for the <br /> opposing party's attorney's fees. <br /> . As an example, suppose a newspaper is successful in bringing an <br /> open meeting claim against a city official. The judge awards a <br /> $100 penalty against the official and also orders the official <br /> to pay the attorneys fees incurred by the newspaper in bringing <br /> the claim. The new coverage would not payor reimburse either <br /> the penalty or the attorneys fees awarded. <br /> Note too that this coverage would not cover any legal costs that <br /> the city might incur if the city itself were a party to the <br /> Open Meeting Law litigation - unless, of course, it was part of <br /> a suit that also included a covered claim for damages, as <br /> discussed earlier. <br /> VII. How will tbe open Meeting Law Defense Cost Reimbursement <br /> Agreement work? <br /> The coverage is significantly different from other coverage <br /> provided under the standard LMCIT coverage agreements in a <br /> couple important ways. First, unlike LMCIT's liability <br /> coverages, the Open Meeting Law coverage does not pay the legal <br /> costs on the city official'S behalf. Instead, LMCIT will <br /> reimburse the city official for 80% of those costs, to a maximum <br /> of $20,000, after the official has incurred those costs. The <br /> city official remains responsible for paying his/her defense <br /> . attorney, including the 20% whioh LMCIT will not reimburse as <br /> well as any costs over $20,000. <br /> -' ------- <br /> - _.- ~ ~..... ~ T .-, . ...,..., I cn , T -, Nc.1 ill 3nS'tJ3i <br />