Laserfiche WebLink
Breadcrumb Navigation:
<br />some of the communities we visited have consolidated municipal and school department <br />legal services in one legal counsel, and believe that this may be a direction to consider in <br />the future, although the present model of separate counsel for municipal and school needs <br />appears to be functioning well. (It is worth noting in this regard that Town counsel – in <br />some cases in conjunction with insurance counsel – presently handles non-labor litigation <br />for the school department.) <br /> <br />c. Whatever model the Town adopts, continuing vigilance will be required to <br />manage the costs of legal services, especially in the face of the complex litigation that the <br />Town frequently faces. The Committee believes that one important element of this <br />strategy is reliance on the Town Manager as the gate-keeper for other Town employees’ <br />and officials’ utilization of legal services. We also applaud the transition to monthly and <br />more detailed billings. Finally, we encourage a continued role by Town Counsel in <br />advising staff and committees about ways to handle their responsibilities that are likely to <br />obviate the need for expensive litigation and to foster favorable outcomes when litigation <br />cannot be avoided. <br /> <br />d. The Committee noted that some of the other towns provided for a regular cycle <br />(e.g. every 3 years) of review of the town’s legal services. This might be a useful <br />approach for Lexington as well. <br /> <br /> <br />Recommendation: <br /> <br />For the reasons detailed above, the Committee recommends that the Town <br />continue to utilize the present model of working with a medium-sized firm that represents <br />both municipal and private clients in a sophisticated practice. If it would be helpful, the <br />Committee will be happy to meet with the Board to discuss the reasoning behind this <br />recommendation. In addition, we note that Anderson & Kreiger is not the only firm in <br />the Boston area that fits this description. Although our recommendation is based in <br />significant part on the positive experience with Anderson & Kreiger, we understand our <br />charge, in this phase of our task, to be to recommend a model, rather than a particular <br />firm. If the Board accepts the Committee’s recommendation with regard to the model <br />and believes it is in the Town’s interest to explore other firms who also fit this model, the <br />Committee stands ready to assist. However, we believe that the recommendations of the <br />predecessor Legal Services Review Committee with regard to the wisdom of engaging in <br />such a process continue to deserve consideration. The Committee makes no <br />recommendation on this point, since it falls outside of our charge. <br /> <br /> 5 <br /> <br />