U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston has granted Marin county the right to move forward on several charges against Deloitte, SAP and former Marin county employee and project manager Ernest Culver. This suit is one more lawsuit against Deloitte in a long string of litigation that spans the nation from coast to coast for yet another failed implementation of software. This long string of litigation also includes the Los Angeles Unified School District‘s payroll system and Levi Strauss & Co. here in California.
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Attorneys for Marin were able to convince Judge Illston that regardless of success or failure of the project, Deloitte was enriching themselves with fees for the failed project. Meanwhile, SAP was conducting regular wine-and-dine discussions of future employment with Ernest Culver to encourage him to sign off on the failed project.
Does any of this sound familiar? We thought it might.
With about a $565 million dollar investment and around six years of failed delivery promises related to CCMS – Ronald George’s bridge to nowhere, California’s judicial branch continues to pursue the fallacy that this project is complete and has been delivered, yet it does not operate in a single court in California. And mini-mimi just can’t understand why the other two branches of government keep targeting her budget when she can provide no proof of the vendors ability to deliver and deploy a functional product for all case types to even a single court.
Related articles
- Judge Tosses Racketeering Claims in Marin County Lawsuit Against SAP (pcworld.com)
- Marin pumps more money into battle with Deloitte Consulting over computer contract (mercurynews.com)
- Most of Marin suit claiming software fraud tossed (sfgate.com)
- Judge tosses racketeering claims in Marin County lawsuit against SAP (networkworld.com)
- Marin Case Related to Big Court IT Project gets go ahead (Courthouse News)
Judicial Council Watcher 
Commercial IT
January 6, 2012
The interesting thing about the Marin County project – known as MERIT – is that it was likely impossible from a technological standpoint. And that is something that both the vendor and the customer should have realized right from the get go. Hard to feel sorry for either side.
Been There
January 6, 2012
I do not wish to go off topic here, but it should be of note (but has no bearing on the decision) that Susan Illston was a Judicial Council member immediately prior to her appointment to the Federal Bench. During the period of her Judicial Council membership, Susan Illston was a partner in a well-known Burlingame law firm.
My point? Further evidence of Judicial Council membership being useful in career advancement. Of course not every federal judge served on the California Judicial Council! (Former Superior Court Judge Judith McConnell was also nominated to the Federal Bench during the Clinton Presidency, only to have her appointment blocked by the then Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Orrin Hatch, R Utah, for all the wrong reasons. Senator Hatch blocked the nomination because Judge McConnell had awarded custody of a child to an openly gay parent in a cold custody case. Apparently the best interests of the child were of no concern to Sen. Hatch.)
Been There
January 6, 2012
Oops, that should read “child custody case.”
althepal55
January 6, 2012
Interesting… Is the pressure on? It seems that Chief Tani… may be on a warm-fuzzies, I’m not just-some-cold-barmaid, PR plan. She’s now all about “efficiency and merit-based discussions…”
Anyway, FWIW, I just received the following e-mail appeal (with a warm-fuzzy PR-shot of Tani & Arnold embedded) from SAFE California Campaign (a S.F. based Anti-Death Penalty group):
Best,
Alan
https://plus.google.com/115902390478619061589/about?hl=en
[Today is day 301…]
1/ 6/12
Dear Alan Ernesto [Phillips],
CALIFORNIA CHIEF JUSTICE SAYS DEATH PENALY NOT EFFECTIVE
“I don’t think it is working. It’s not effective. We know that.”
That’s how the death penalty was described just days ago by the leader of California’s criminal justice system, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye of the state Supreme Court — a conservative Republican and former prosecutor appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Chief Justice’s comments are crystal clear. Now we need leaders in California’s legislature to speak out just as plainly on our broken death penalty system.
>> Click here to urge Assembly Speaker John Perez, Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, and Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff to take a public stand on replacing the death penalty in California!<>Click here to…<>Click here to…<<
Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye's statements about the death penalty are bold. Now we need other leaders to speak out. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye said that it’s up to voters to say whether the criminal justice system can "make better use of our resources."
That's exactly why we're working around the clock to collect the petition signatures we need to qualify the SAFE California Act for the ballot this November — so the voters can make the best choice for our state.
The voters will have the final say, but the Chief Justice's statement has added momentum to our efforts at a critical time. Now we need you to keep building that momentum.
Sincerely,
Natasha Minsker
Campaign Manager
SAFE California Campaign
"Savings * Accountability * Full Enforcement"
237 Kearnet Street
S.F., CA 94198
###
Michael Paul
January 6, 2012
Marin: Amend the complaint and put racketeering and conspiracy back into the meat and potatoes.