Agenda - Council Work Session - 05/07/2013

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CC Work Session 2. 1. Meeting Date: 05/07/2013 Submitted For: Kurt Ulrich By: Kathy Schmitz, Administrative Services Title: Interview Law Firms for City of Ramsey Legal Services Background: The City policy is to review outside professional contracts on a 3 -5 year basis. The current City Attorney contract for Civil and Criminal (also known as "prosecution ") legal services has been in place for 3 years. The contract runs until July 1, but can be extended indefinitely under a 30 -day termination provision if desired. The City has had a long- standing legal services arrangement with Bill Goodrich for over 30 years and they have re- submitted to continue the contract. In total, 14 firms submitted for either combined civil and criminal, or civil, or criminal services only. A staff panel has reviewed all the applications and has selected 7 firms to interview with the Council. Of these, 3 are proposing combined Civil and Criminal, 2 are Civil only, and 2 are Prosecution only. Legal billings for the last 3 years are as follows: 2010 Criminal $ 72,239 Civil $ 67,235 Combined $134,474 2011 Criminal $ 70,606 Civil $ 61,274 Combined $131,880 2012 Criminal $ 70,234 Civil $ 66,131 Combined $136,365 Attached is a chart showing the hourly rates and fees for each firm. Each firm that proposed combined services is scheduled for 30 minutes. Otherwise, the single - service proposals are scheduled for 20 minutes. A list of interview questions will be provided to ask each firm. All firms selected are similar in rates, with no major budget impacts anticipated. Attached are full proposals from each firm. The selection of firms to interview was based on a combination of experience, location, and price. Based upon the results of the interviews, additional background research may be conducted. Civil and Criminal 6:00 p.m. Randall, Goodrich & Haag 6:30 p.m. Berglund & Berglund