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Home My WebLink About2003-05-12-memo Memorandum To. Legal Services Committee CC. School Committee From. Joanne Benton Date: 5/12/03 Re. Stoneman,Chandler&Miller Legal Services Attached please find the following: D A description of the history of the legal services and breakdown of percent of services D Stoneman,Chandler and Miller Contract 1998-2001 D Proposed Contract 2002-2004 ➢ Legal Services costs for the past five years I look forward to seeing you on Monday,May 19th at 7.00 p.m. at 1557 Massachusetts Ave. 1 -2ECE - WEI STONEMAN, CHANDLER & MILL LIMY 6 RECD99 MGH STREET BOSTON,MASSACHUETTS02110 SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE. ALAN S.MILLER Stem a..n sal ROBERT CHANDLER SANDRA L.MOODY CAROL CHANDLER Telephone(617)542-6789 JOHN M.SIMON KAY IL HODGE KATHERINE D.CLARK ROBERT G.FRASER Facsimile(617)556-8989 GINA YARBROUGH MACON P MACRE SCOTT MERRILL REBECCA L.BRYANT GEOFFREY R.BOK NANCY N.NEVILS MIRIAM K.FREEDMAN of counsel May 5, 2003 Supt. Joanne Benton Lexington Public Schools 1557 Massachusetts Ave. Lexington, MA 02173 RE: Legal Services Dear Supt. Benton. This letter responds to your request for information about the percentage of time spent on the various topics listed in your memo dated April 27, 2003 regarding legal services. As I am sure you can appreciate, the percentage of time spent on any one of these matters and others varies greatly from time to time depending upon a wide variety of factors and activity over which neither we nor school administrators have control. Stoneman, Chandler and Miller("SCM") attorneys have represented the Lexington School Department since the late 1960's. I have been directly involved with Lexington as the lead counsel since the late 1980's. Throughout this time, personnel and labor relations issues have represented the majority of work that we have done for Lexington. In recent years, however, the time devoted to special education and other student related matters has grown significantly Moreover, individual matters such as the Dupre Arbitration, the Goodrich Cases, Waring Case the Geiger and Ruane's severances, working with the School Committee's policy sub-committee, and most recently the Fiske School child abuse case and the BSEA case involving accoustical modifications have during their own timeframes involved a great deal of time and yet over a 30 plus year perspective they are not the primary way in which we have worked with Lexington School Department. If I had to identify the primary focus of what we have done through the 30 plus years representing Lexington, it is the on-going often daily interaction we have had with school officials regarding the whole range of legal issues they have encountered and the history of how things have been handled in Lexington in the past. In some respects each of these interactions is a mini in-service session on the legal issues related to the topics involved. We have worked successfully with 10 different administrations and more than 25 STONEMAN, CHANDLER & MILLER LLP Supt. Joanne Benton May 5, 2003 Page 2 of 2 different school committees. Pleased see the attached list from your memorandum. I have provided an estimated percentage of the time devoted to the major categories in the past three years and rank ordered the topics listed for each group based upon an estimate of the total amount of time spent on that topic. If we can help the legal services study committee in any way, please let us know Sincere! , 41/ 41e// Robert G Fraser Enclosure 030505.JB.legal services K Estimated Distribution of Legal Services Provided by Stoneman Chandler & Miller LLP 2000 - 2003 Personnel Issues 25% Progressive Discipline Supervision & Evaluation Professional Status Terminations Licensure Personnel Files FMLA Worker's Comp Unemployment Insurance Student Issues 25% SPED SPED -TEAM meetings, mediation and hearings Suspension & Expulsion Hearings 504 Student Athletes General Legal Issues 20% Due Process Rights Abuse Harassment Open Meeting Laws Access to Public Records Privacy Rights Academic Freedom School Construction Government Funding & Grants Labor Relations/Collective Baraainina 10% Contract interpretation questions Bargaining with custodians Bargaining with Tutors Grievances Contract issues re special education placements Salary Schedules Interest Based Bargaining I Positional Bargaining Educational/training Services 5% Training for Administrators in a variety of areas In-service training and workshops Business Office 5% Residency Issues Student Transportation Issues Public Records Information Procurement Issues Other 10% Emails and legal updates Discrimination issues Review and drafting of forms and documents Policy development and drafting Investigations DOE complaints OCR complaints CORI Issues Health insurance issues Immigration issues 06 01 (.11 FRI 12 17 FAX 6175568989 STONEMAN CHANDLER MILLER fJuu2 STONEMAN, CHANDLER St MILLER LLP,+ECD �- + 3 99 HIGH STREET ALAN I. MILLER BosTON. �CI-J[JSE T j 02110 NANCY N.NEV1L: Roa1RT CHANDLFR JOAN i. $ R. BOK CAROL CHANDLER (617) 54287$9 JOAN L.STEIN KAY H.HODO4 KAREN SHATTER LEVY ROBERT G.FRASER TELECOPIER (4171 556.8989 RONARl�L �� MARY L.MARSHALL MACON P-MAGE& RONALD M.JACOBS MIRIAM K.FREEDMAN ANDRI?N L. MATZ REBECCA L, BRYANT July 14;- 1998 CONFIDENTIAL Dr. Jeffrey Young i”k• Lexington Public Schools 1557 MassaChnSetts Avenue vt 146-1' Lexington, NA 02173 _ RE! Retainer for Legal Services Ci C 5 Dear Jeff Our • . - 'ndicate that the current retainer agreement with L;6‘. ' •-t-Qn\has a-en in effect since 1993_ Since that time we - > e been providin services at the same rate, i.e. $30, 000 p-r fiscal year. In a=ch of those yeara, the glue -of the e ice_s provided has teed the retainer. During FY9 8, we p.ov-ided "290.75 hours of work under the retainer. Had that work been billed at our •stomary hourly rates it would have been $$4,200. We be -ve that the type of full-service retainer under whic we have operated with Lexington (and other clients) is the best and most economical way to fulfill a school district's needs. In our experience, the best predictor of future needs is past experience. Mindful of your needs and ours, we would pro.. ` • ' t_ •l l owing agreement for the period from-July 1, 1998 (133 3t), 2001. We would continue to provide all of the following services pursuant to a retainer agreement: Personnel & Labor Relations - Contract negotiations, contract administration, grievance processing and labor relations consultations; consultations and legal opinions on all matters would be included but investigations, hearing8, arbitrations and -litigation would be pn -an hourly ta;sis 06-01-01 11 08 RECEIVED FROM 6175568989 P A'J (hi (a1 u1 FRI 12 18 FAX 6175568989 STONEMAN CHANDLER MILLER I]ntt3 Y r ONEMAN, CHANDLER & MILLER LLP Dr. Jeffrey Young July 14, 1998 page two ; ..1- . 11 : -4 �' Special Education - Co> sultations, legal opinions, correspondence and initial case analysis for all special education matters. Mediations, hearings and re r, , 4 litigation would be on an hourli rate.. General School Law - Consultations and legal opinions relative to all general school law matters, prepara- tion of contracts and attendance at school committee meetings when necessary. Investigations, hearings and litigation are provided on an hourly rate. The retainer from July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999 would be at the rate of $40,000; July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000 would be $45,000 and July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001 would be $50,000, All other services not covered by the retainer would be at our customary hourly rates which currently range from $175 per hour to $220°.00 per hour. Hourly rates are adjusted ually on January 1st. We have enjoyed working with you and the Lexin on staff and look forward to a continuing relationship, / r If this arrangement is satisfactory, kindly,/have the enclose I copy of this letter signed and returned to me./ Thank you for your attention to this matter, ze .`.. , Sincerely, Obert! G. Fraser Approved by the Lexington School Committee. tt : Chairma Z e I] to - eon 11. ' , Q / � G �f% /y�y,�r,a �t d axy,,,x, ,,,....... 4 06-01-01 11 09 RECEIVED FROM 6175568989 n lag 644 /�n ,gyp ?Xj— 'ZOO 1 STONEMAN, CHANDLER & MILLER LLP 99 HIGH STREET BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02110 ALAN S.MILLER NANCY N.NEVHS ROBERT CHANDLER GEOFFREY R.BOK CAROL CHANDLER Phone(617)542-6789 JOAN L.STEIN KAY H HODGE SANDRA L.MOODY ROBERT G.FRASER TELECOPIER(617)556-8989 JOHN M.SIMON MACON P MAGES KATHERINE D.CLARK MIRIAM K.FREEDMAN GINA YARBROUGH REBECCA L.BRYANT February 22, 2002 Supt. Joanne Benton Lexington Public Schools 1557 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA 02173 RE: Retainer for Legal Services Dear Joanne Susan Botan called yesterday asking for a copy of our current retainer letter with Lexington. You may recall that Susan, you and I met last summer regarding renewal of Lexington's retainer with the firm and you asked Susan and I to have further discussions to work out the details Unfortunately, I did not get back to Susan with an updated letter reflecting the tentative agreement we had reached following our initial meeting with you. Therefore, I am enclosing an updated retainer letter for the school committee's consideration. Please let me know if you require any further information Sincerely, Robert G. Fraser Cc: Susan Botan Lexington.retainer 020222.JB STONEMAN, CHANDLER & MILLER LLP 99 HIGH STREET BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02110 ALAN S.MILLER NANCY N.NEVILS ROBERT CHANDLER GEOFFREY R.BOK CAROL CHANDLER Phone(617)542-6789 JOAN L.STEIN KAY IL HODGE SANDRA L.MOODY ROBERT G.FRASER TELECOPIER(617)556-8989 JOHN M.SIMON MACON P MAGEE KATHERINE D.CLARK MIRIAM K.FREEDMAN GINA YARBROUGH REBECCA L.BRYANT February 21, 2002 Supt. Joanne Benton Lexington Public Schools 1557 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA 02173 RE: Retainer for Legal Services Dear Supt. Benton. Our records indicate that the current retainer agreement with Lexington has been in effect since July 1, 1998 The hours worked and amount paid are as follows. Fiscal Year Hours Amount 98-99 396 $40,000 99-00 499 $45,000 00-01 484 $50,000 In each of those years,the value of the services provided if billed on an hourly basis wouldhave exceeded the retainer paid. For example, during FY01, we provided 484 hours of work under the retainer Had that work been billed at our customary hourly rates it would have been more than$9600-0. We believe that the type of full-service retainer under which we have operated with Lexington (and other clients) is the best and most economical way to fulfill a school district's needs. In our experience, the best predictor of future needs is past experience Mindful of your needs and ours, we would propose the following agreement for the period from July 1, 200110 June 30-2004 We would continue to provide all of the following services pursuant to a retainer STONEMAN, CHANDLER & MILLER LLP Supt. Joanne Benton February 21, 2002 Page 2 of 3 agreement: Personnel & Labor Relations - Contract negotiations, contract administration, grievance processing and labor relations consultations, consultations and legal opinions on all matters would be included but investigations, hearings, arbitrations and litigation would be on an-hourly basis. Special Education - Consultations, legal opinions, correspondence and initial case analysis for all special education matters Mediations, hearings and litigation would be on an hodrly rate. General School Law- Consultations and legal opinions relative to all general school law matters, preparation of contracts and attendance at school committee meetings when necessary Investigations, hearings and litigation are provided on an hourlycrate. The retainer from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002 would be at the rate of$52,000; July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003 would be$54,000 and July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004 would be $56,650. All other services not covered by the retainer would be at our customary hourly rates that currently range from $_180 per hour to $260 00 per hour Hourly rates are adjusted annually on January 1st. We have enjoyed working with you and the L xington staff and look forwardto a continuing relationship If this arrangement is satisfactory, kindly hav the enclosed copy of this letter signed and returned to me Thank you for your attention to this matter rikitit tool, 1f Sincerely, 1 Robert G Fraser STONEMAN, CHANDLER & MILLER LLP Supt. Joanne Benton February 21, 2002 Page 3 of 3 Approved by the Lexington School Committee. Chairman Date Lexington.retainer.01-04 LEXINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS _EGAL SERVICES FEES: Stoneman Chandler & Miller EXPENSES Retainer Fee % change Other Fees % change TOTAL %change FY 1998 $ 30,000 $ 44,000 $ 74,000 FY 1999 $ 40,000 33% $ 33,000 -25% $ 73,000 -1% FY 2000 $ 45,000 13% $ 56,000 70% $ 101,000 38% FY 2001 $ 50,000 11% $ 50,000 -11% $ 100,000 -1% FY 2002 $ 52,000 4% $ 113,000 126% $ 165,000 65% FY 2003 (projected) $ 54,000 4% $ 86,000 -24% $ 140,000 -15% s.bottan may 8, 2003