Local Officials Suggest New Ideas for Saving on Legal Fees
Local officials have advanced several cutting-edge concepts lately about how to save money on legal fees. However, the lawyers concerned may not be jumping for joy over the innovative ideas.
In Milford, Ohio, a newly elected school board member suggested that the group could save money by eliminating their general legal counsel entirely. Instead, the board should allow the local prosecutor’s office, which by statute is required to act as the school district’s counsel, to fulfill this role, recommended Gary Knepp. His colleagues agreed with this idea, reports the Community Press, and the board voted Jan. 7 to remove Bricker & Eckler as its general counsel, although it is retaining its specialized bond counsel.
Meanwhile, a municipal official in Somerset, N.Y., supervisor Richard J. Meyers, wants to know why the town’s counsel can’t set an agreed price for litigation matters, rather than billing by the, reports the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal.
Replied lawyer Robert S. Roberson, who was attending a Tuesday meeting behalf of town attorney Edwin Shoemaker, “You won’t get it.” Handling government litigation isn’t like constructing a municipal building, he said. “You don’t know what costs are going to be.”
