Submitted By
Cara Pavlicek, Village Manager
Reviewed By
LKS
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Resolution Approving the Engagement of Attorneys/Law Firms for Legal Services to be Performed on Behalf of the Village of Oak Park for the 2020 Fiscal Year
End
Overview
Overview
Since 2012, it has been standard protocol for the Village Manager to bring all engagements for contractual legal services to the Village Board for authorization in the event that through the course of a calendar year the costs of services were to exceed $25,000.
Body
Staff Recommendation
Approval of the Resolution authorizing the Village Manager’s engagement of: Clark Baird Smith LLP; Deano & Scarry LLC; Engler, Baasten & Sraga LLC; Franczek P.C.; Law Office of Joseph P. Buell; Hervas, Condon & Bersani, P.C.; Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins, Ltd.; Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C.; Moss & Barnett, a professional corporation; Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C.; Robbins, Salomon & Patt, Ltd.; Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Ltd.; Russel G. Winick & Associates, P.C.; and Sanford Kahn, Ltd.
Fiscal Impact
The FY20 budget provides funding for contractual legal services in the General Fund in account no. 1001-41070-101-530667 with an annual allocation of $200,000.
Background
Pursuant to Section 2-5-1 of the Oak Park Village Code, the Village Manager is authorized to employ legal counsel for the various needs in the Village and the Village Board is further authorized to approve the engagement of independent contractors for the purpose of handling specific legal matters and subject to Section 2-6-1, all contracts over $25,000 require specific authorization by the Village Board.
While it is not anticipated that the legal work requested of these individual firms will exceed $25,000 in FY20, the request for authorization is being presented in the event that total cost for hourly services would exceed $25,000.
Alternatives
The Village could elect to eliminate all contractually provided legal services and only utilize attorneys employed by the Village. However, this alternative is not recommended as the diverse nature of municipal services at times necessitates that it is most efficient to engage outside counsel with specific expertise.
Previous Board Action
Annually, the Village Board has authorized similar contractual service agreements for legal services in January and February.
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
N/A
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
N/A
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
Due to the nature of legal services, staff does not believe that there is an opportunity for shared services in this area currently.