Yang’s hourly rate is $855, and her associate will make $610 per hour, City Atty. Dennis Barlow said.
Officials estimate the maximum fee for Bobb’s services at about $75,000, which will be paid to the Police Assessment Resource Center, a nonprofit focused on police oversight and reform.
“It was a desire of the council that the issues facing our Police Department warranted people who really have experience and can help advise us,” Councilman Dave Golonski said.
“You look at the experience of an organization like Merrick Bobb’s, it’s directly in line with dealing with the issues we have.”
Bobb served as deputy general counsel for the Christopher Commission, which investigated the Los Angeles Police Department in the aftermath of the Rodney King beating in 1991.
He has also monitored the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for nearly two decades.
Along with a focus on the lawsuits and external probes into the Burbank Police Department, Bobb is expected to work in consultation with the interim police chief and council to determine the appropriate amount of citizen oversight, officials said.
The Police Commission recently submitted a formal request to the City Council to expand its oversight powers to prevent future police misconduct and shake off public scorn.
Yang, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, is co-chairwoman of the law firm’s crisis management group, and served as chairwoman of the civil rights subcommittee for the attorney general.
Before becoming U.S. attorney, she was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1997 and the Los Angeles Superior Court bench in 2000.
Her duties will vary depending on the direction of the federal probe, Barlow said.
