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Home My WebLink AboutA8323 - SINGERLEWAK ACCOUNTANTS & CONSULTANTS (CLYDE & CO) - FORENSIC ACCOUNTING & FINANCIAL ANALYSIS RE: CITY VS CHEVRON ENERGY SOLUTIONS ■ Singer-Lew- A - Accountants&Consultants June 18, 2019 Curtis Parvin, Esq. Clyde & Company International Law Firm 2020 Main Street, Suite 1100 Irvine, CA 92614 RE: City of Palm Springs v. Chevron Energy Solutions Company Dear Mr. Parvin: Thank you for considering our firm for your forensic accounting and expert requirements. We understand that we have been retained to prepare a financial analysis in the above matter. Our client in this matter will be City of Palm Springs. Our fee estimate for investigation and preparation of reports will be difficult to ascertain at this time. The final cost will depend upon adequacy of information and access to individuals for interview, if necessary. We will require a refundable retainer with a signed copy of this letter of$5,000, which-will be applied to our final billing at the conclusion of our engagement. The retainer will be applied to our billings at our discretion. The retainer shall not relieve you of your obligation to pay our monthly invoices as they become due. Any excess retainer will be promptly refunded at the conclusion of our engagement. Charges for services are by the hour at rates that reflect the responsibility taken for our efforts and are set forth below. Any research, data gathering, site visits, preparation of reports and meetings with clients, experts and attorneys, required for completion of this assignment will be billed at..standard hourly rates, which currently are: $465 per hour for Jaime Holmes,Partner $95-180 per hour for Staff and Senior Staff Analysts In addition to fees, we recover incidental costs including copies, computers, supplies and like with a $10 per hour charge. We also pass through out-of-pocket costs such as research, report preparation, use of:other specialists, out-of-town travel, courier services, long distance telephone, parking, etc. Additional retainers may be required. If unusual circumstances are encountered that would require the expansion of the scope of the engagement, it will be discussed with you before doing additional work. We understand that City of Palm Springs is responsible for our fees and not Clyde &Company International Law Firm. Billing statements are due by the 1 Oth of the month and past due at the end of the month. All accounts over 60 days will be assessed a service charge of the lesser of 1 1/2% per month or the highest amount allowed by law on the unpaid balance. Should arbitration or litigation be necessary on disputed amounts, the prevailing party will have the right to claim reimbursement for attorney fees. 2050 Main St.7th Floor Irvine,CA 92614 T.949.261.8600 F:949.26L8610 `O�primeGlobal An A-1.6 n f 877..754.4557 P*p,.*nCAunundV Firms Curtis Parvin, Esq. Clyde & Company International Law Firm June 18, 2019 Page 2of4 To safeguard against any assertion or allegation that our work is in any way influenced by, or contingent upon, the outcome of this litigation, we require that any and all outstanding invoices from us are paid in full before we deliver any report or other work products AND/OR before we provide any testimony in deposition or trial for this matter. If any dispute arises between City of Palm Springs and Clyde & Co. ("the Parties"), on one hand, and SingerLewak LLP ("SingerLewak"), on the other hand, the Parties and SingerLewak agree first to try in good faith to settle the dispute by mediation administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Rules'for Professional Accounting and Related Services Disputes before resorting to litigation. The prevailing party will be reimbursed for reasonable costs and attorney's fees. The Parties and SingerLewak agree that any dispute over fees charged by SingerLewak will be submitted for resolution by arbitration in accordance with the Rules for Professional Accounting and Related Services Disputes of the American Arbitration Association. Such arbitration shall be binding and final. In agreeing to arbitration, all parties acknowledge that, in the event of a dispute over fees charged by SingerLewak, each of us is giving up the right to have the dispute decided in a court of law before a judge or jury and instead we are accepting the use of arbitration for resolution. The prevailing party will be reimbursed for reasonable costs and attorney's fees. SingerLewak's Taxpayer Identification Number(TIN) is: 95-2302617. CONFIDENTIALITY It is agreed that all working papers and other documents prepared by us pursuant to this engagement are confidential and will not be disclosed by us to third parties without the consent of you except as may be required by law, regulation, judicial or administrative process. We agree to promptly notify you should any of the following events occur: (a) a request by anyone to examine, inspect, or copy such documents or records; (b) any attempt to serve, or the actual service of, any court order, subpoena, or summons upon SingerLewak which requires the production of such documents or records. SUPERSEDED WORK PAPERS It is not our practice to retain work papers, a-mails or data files that have been updated or superseded, unless shared with you or a third party working with you. However, we will retain copies of e-mail, analyses, draft reports or other materials provided by you or any third party, or provided by us to you or any third party. If you wish us to follow a retention practice that differs from those described in the preceding part of this paragraph, please indicate your specific request(s) in writing when returning a copy of this engagement letter. We reserve the right to decline the engagement depending upon the nature of your request(s). DOCUMENT RETENTION All records and files will be retained and disposed of in compliance with our policy in effect. Subject to future changes, it is our current policy to retain records pertaining to financial statements for seven years, at which point they are destroyed. Records pertaining to tax returns are kept indefinitely as long as you remain a client, but will be destroyed seven years after our relationship has been terminated. It is not administratively feasible for us to advise you of the disposal of records.Therefore,when records are returned to you, it is your responsibility to retain and protect your records for possible future use, including potential examination by any government or regulatory agencies. Curtis Parvin, Esq. Clyde & Company International Law Firm June 18, 2019 Page 3 of 4 At the close of this engagement, we will require your instruction for the disposition of documents that we have accumulated. USE OF THIRD PARTIES We may at various times use outside contractors to assist in completing assignments in a timely and cost efficient manner. We will require all outside contractors to execute a confidentiality agreement ensuring the privacy of your matter and documents. Your signature below indicates your agreement to permit use of contractors at our discretion. INDEMNIFICATION This indemnification relates only to this assignment, and is intended to protect us against being named in any lawsuit regarding the opinion to be provided. The Parties agree to indemnify and hold harmless SingerLewak, its employees and agents, from any and all obligations, claims, charges, expenses or costs of any nature whatsoever, including, without limitation, investigation and attorneys'fees regarding the opinion to be provided unless such claims against SingerLewak are based on negligence and/or intentional misconduct. NO GUARANTEE OF ACCEPTANCE The Parties acknowledge that the opinion and/or expert testimony of SingerLewak personnel under this agreement is its good faith opinion, but:is ultimately only the unbiased judgment of the SingerLewak personnel. Failure of its opinion(s)to be accepted in any sense, or admitted as evidence,for any reason by any,,court, person or government entity, shall not constitute a breach of any of SingerLewak's duties under this agreement, give rise to any cause of action by the Parties, nor relieve the Parties of any duties. We have performed an internal search for SingerLewak professional relationships with the names of the parties you have provided. At this time,we believe that no such relationships would cause a conflict of interest. We affirmatively state that our fee is not contingent upon the value(s), if any, determined by our investigation and final report. We sincerely appreciate this opportunity to be of service to you. If you agree with our proposal outlined above, please sign the copy of this letter in the space provided and return with the said retainer amount. Sincerely, SingerLewak LLP Jaime C. Holmes, CPA, JD, ABV, CVA, CFF Partner Curtis Parvin, Esq. Clyde & Company International Law Firm June 18, 2019 Page 4 of 4 This letter correctly sets forth the understanding of Curtis Parvin of Clyde & Company International Law Firm. Signature Date August 5, 2019 Email: curtis.parvin@clydeco.us This letter correctly sets forth the understanding of City of Palm Springs. Signaturer f ate G �� EST: Print Name: David H. Ready, Esq., P.h.D., City Manager ity CI Signature Date as Print Name:.Jeff Ballinger, City Attorney Not To Exceedifen Without The Ex*P _V� s r Authorization ®f The M Manager. Billing Address: 3200 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262 Attn: Office of the Assistant City ManageCRY Email: Marcus.Fullerp_palmspringsca.gov 8323 r „gs - Phone Number: 760-322-8380/760-323-8202