Benefit Plan V-Civil, Criminal, and Administrative Actions

(a) Legal representation in any civil, criminal, or administrative disciplinary action brought against him or her arising from any act or omission of the Participant within the scope of his or her employment, including civil, criminal, or administrative disciplinary action brought as the result of the Participant's involvement in Concerted Labor Activity, subject to the conditions set forth in Section 13 of this Article.

(b) Legal representation in any departmental administrative investigation or informal non-adversary pre-discipline hearing, e.g., a Skelly hearing, if the action arose from an act or omission of the Participant not within the scope of his or her employment.

(c) All customary, necessary, and reasonable services related to an action described in subsection (a) or (b) hereof, including where it appears reasonably probable that such an action will be commenced.

(d) The appeal of any action under Benefit Plan V subsection (a) to court, except to challenge imposed discipline, shall be subject to a $300 deductible, and to all other exclusions and limitations of the Plan.

(e) Legal representation under Benefit Plan V subsection (a) shall be subject to advance payment of seventy-five percent (75%) of any applicable transcript costs, including transcripts requested by the Legal Administrator for consideration of a request for benefits hereunder.

(f) These services are subject to Section 9 (Field Representative Option) of this Article.

Section 9-Field Representative Option

Each Member Association which has applied for benefits under Benefit Plan I,II,V, or under Section 8 of this Article shall be entitled to designate a primary service provider, which need not be a law firm or attorney, by notifying the Legal Administrator in writing. The designated primary service provider shall thereafter in it's sole discretion determine in each administrative disciplinary action whether and to what extent services to a participant will be provided by a Panel Attorney or a Field Representative. A Member Association may at any time change the designation of it's primary service provider by notifying the Legal Administrator in writing, to be effective for all claims for benefits received after the date the legal Administrator received such notification. For claims for which coverage was previously granted, a Member Association may change the designation of its primary service provider only with the prior written approval of the legal Administrator, whose decision may be appealed to the Board pursuant to Section 6 of Article V. Where a primary service provider has determined that representation by a Field Representative is appropriate, a Participant may nonetheless receive legal representation from a Panel Attorney by notifying in writing both the the legal Administrator and the primary service provider, by agreeing to pay to the Legal Defense Fund in the same manner as a co-payment the difference between the Legal Defense Funds compensation rate for the Panel Attorney and that of a Field Representative, and by making the payments.

Section 13-Representation for Concerted Labor Activity

A Participant shall be entitled to representation, including representation in a civil or criminal contempt action, in accordance with the Benefit Plan chosen by the Member Association, for Concerted Labor Activity arising out of a dispute over wages, hours, terms, or conditions of employment between the Participant's Member Association and his or her employer, provided that:

(a) The Board of Trustees approves benefits under the Plan after establishing that the Participant's Member Association has exhausted all reasonable procedures or other means to resolve the labor dispute and did so prior to resorting to any such Concerted Labor Activity; and

(b) The Participant's Member Association has been covered under the Plan for at least six (6) months prior to the date of such Concerted Labor Activity.

*Reprinted from the Plan Document of the Legal Defense Fund of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (as amended through September 28, 1996)

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