North Carolina § 136-18 - 03. Outside counsel.

§ 136-18. 03. Outside counsel.

Intent. - It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Transportation exercise the authority granted by this section to maximize operational and project delivery benefits attributed to the avoidance or successful defense of litigation. Authorization. - The Department of Transportation may engage the services of private counsel with the pertinent expertise to provide legal services related to any project undertaken by the Department. The Department shall supervise and manage the private counsel engaged under this section and, excluding legal services related to workers' compensation claims brought by Department employees, shall not be required to obtain written permission or approval from the Attorney General under G.S. 114-2.3. G.S. 147-17(c1) and G.S. 114-2.3(d) do not apply to this section. Performance Metrics. - The Department shall develop performance metrics to evaluate its utilization of in-house counsel and private counsel, to include the following: A summary of new matters opened by legal area. Case cycle times. Resolution of cases. A comparison of in-house costs to billable rates for private counsel. The process for procurement for legal services. Report. - The Department shall provide a semiannual report to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee and the Joint Legislative Justice and Public Safety Oversight Committee on the performance metrics set forth in subsection (c) of this section. History (2015-241, s. 29.8(d); 2017-57, s. 6.7(c).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.7, made this section effective July 1, 2015. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 6.7(o), made the amendment to subsection (b) of this section by Session Laws 2017-57, s. 6.7(c ), effective June 28, 2017, and applicable to pending and future actions. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2017-57, s. 6.7(c), effective July 1, 2017, added the last sentence in subsection (b).