TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Cristal McDonald, City Clerk
PREPARED BY: Angela Martin Van der Baan, Records Manager
SUBJECT:
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Agreement with Everlaw - eDiscovery Software
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ABSTRACT
This report provides an overview of the City’s use of Everlaw, a software platform that streamlines the organization, deduplication, review, and identification of responsive emails within large volumes of digital data in response to public records requests and subpoenas.
To support increasing data demands and maintain operational efficiency, this report recommends continued use of Everlaw and an expansion of the current data plan from 100 GB per month (1,200 GB annually) to 200 GB per month (2,400 GB annually).
RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Amend the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26 and Fiscal Year 2026/27 Operating Budget to appropriate $8,320, and $20,918, respectively, as detailed in the fiscal impact statement to cover the increase in the yearly cost;
Authorize the City Manager to approve a one-year agreement with Everlaw for the amount of $49,920 and up to an additional two (2) one-year extensions with an anticipated amount not-to-exceed $168,450; and
Authorize the exemption from bidding requirements in accordance with the Murrieta Municipal Code §3.08.280(G).
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
None.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
This item aligns with the City Council’s goal of: maintaining a high performing organization that values fiscal sustainability, transparency, accountability and organizational efficiency relating to an administrative priority. It aligns with the priority of Information Governance for Records Accessibility and Public Records Legal compliance.
DISCUSSION
Background
The City Clerk acts as a compliance officer for federal, state, and local statutes, including the California Public Records Act. The California Public Records Act (CPRA) was enacted in 1968, requiring inspection or disclosure of governmental records to the public upon request, unless exempt by law. As a result, City Clerks are tasked with implementing systems, procedures, and software to efficiently and effectively respond to the public's requests for records.
Due to a 55% increase in Public Records Act Requests (PRARs) received by the City of Murrieta (City) between 2021 and 2024, along with a rise in more complex subpoenas seeking email correspondence, the City Clerk entered into an agreement with Everlaw in 2024, to help process, sort, and review emails faster and more efficiently.
The 2024 Everlaw agreement was for a 100 GB monthly (1,200GB annual) data plan. For 2025, the City retained the same plan, but found that the data size was insufficient for the City's growing needs. The City's data growth from 2024 to 2025 was 61%. Consequently, the City Clerk's Department, with the help of Everlaw, identified the 200 GB monthly (2,400GB annual) data plan as the best fit for the City’s needs. The 100 GB plan was $30,000, and the 200 GB plan is $49,920 per year, with a current standard yearly uplift between seven percent (7%) and twelve percent (12%).
Everlaw
Everlaw is a cloud-based eDiscovery software that streamlines the organization, deduplication, review, and identification of responsive emails within large volumes of digital data, while providing a centralized workspace.
Its implementation has generated significant operational efficiencies and cost savings for the City Clerk’s Department. The platform has greatly reduced the time City Clerk staff spend manually sorting and reviewing large volumes of emails and records. It has also lowered legal review costs by enabling the City’s Records Manager to more effectively cull and organize responsive documents before they are submitted for legal review.
For example, in a recent request, Everlaw reduced the dataset from approximately 113,000 documents (about 1.4 million pages) to roughly 7,000 documents (36,000 pages), eliminating non-responsive materials and duplicates.
Everlaw has become an essential tool for the City, improving the efficiency, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness of managing email-related requests. These enhancements accelerate response times for public records requests and legal matters, while reducing the overall time required for legal review. As a result, the City benefits from increased operational efficiency, measurable cost savings, and a more defensible, transparent process that supports compliance with legal obligations.
Consideration
Section 3.08.280 of the Municipal Code outlines competitive bidding procedures, and requirements may be dispensed when the City Council finds that adherence to the procedures in this chapter would be inefficient, impractical, and unnecessary. Therefore, staff requests an exemption from bidding requirements, as Everlaw is our current service provider and has proven to be an efficient and effective system for processing email requests.
Additionally, staff requests authorization to amend the Fiscal Year 2025/26 and 2026/27 Operating Budget to appropriate $8,320 and $20,918, respectively. Staff seeks authorization for the City Manager to approve a one-year agreement with Everlaw for an amount of $49,920 for Fiscal Year 2025/26; and up to two (2) additional one-year extensions to be memorialized in contract amendments with an anticipated total amount not-to-exceed $168,450, which may include an annual escalator between seven percent (7%) and twelve percent (12%).
PUBLIC NOTICING
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item).
CEQA AND REGULATORY OVERVIEW
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because this action will not result in a physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact of the proposed contract is $49,920, with an anticipated additional amount not-to-exceed $168,450 for the optional two (2) one-year extensions . Staff recommends amending the Fiscal Year 2025/26 Operating Budget to appropriate $8,320 to cover the increased cost for the remaining two months of FY 2025/26, and amending the Fiscal Year 2026/27 Operating Budget to increase appropriation of $20,919 in General Ledger Account 1102400-62160. The budget for the remaining year will be included in the normal biennial budget process.
ATTACHMENTS
ATT 1 - Everlaw Invoice - Order Form