City Council Agenda
City of Campbell, 70 N. First St., Campbell, California Those members of the public wishing to provide public comment virtually during the open portion can access the meeting at: https://www.campbellca.gov/signup. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Members of the public may attend the meeting in person at Campbell City Hall - Council Chambers.
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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CAMPBELL CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, March 31, 2026 10:30 AM
City Hall Council Chamber
CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
PUBLIC COMMENT
NEW BUSINESS
City Attorney Structure Page 3
Recommended Action
Receive staff report on City Attorney Structure options and provide feedback to staff.
ADJOURN
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Materials related to an item on this agenda submitted to the City Council after distribution of the agenda packet are available for public inspection with the agenda packet in the lobby of City Clerk’s Office, 70 N. First Street, Campbell, CA 95008, during normal business hours. These materials will also be available on the City website at https://pub-campbell.escribemeetings.com with the agenda packet following the last item of the agenda, subject to staff’s ability to post the documents prior to the meeting. All documents not posted prior to the meeting will be posted the next business day.
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4. meetings held in the City Council Chambers. If you require accommodation, please contact the City Clerk’s Office, (408) 866-2117, at least one week in advance of the meeting.
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City Council Report
DATE: March 31, 2026
TITLE: City Attorney Structure
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive staff report on City Attorney Structure options and provide feedback to staff.
BACKGROUND
The City of Campbell (City) City Attorney will be retiring at the end of calendar year 2026 and the purpose of this special meeting is to provide the City Council (Council) with an opportunity to consider options available to the City for retaining future city attorney services and to provide feedback to staff.
DISCUSSION
In an Information Memorandum dated December 19, 2025, and attached hereto for reference, staff provided the City Council with an overview of two models for retaining city attorney services that were both recommended by the League of California Cities and offered in other comparable cities in the County of Santa Clara. For comparison, the memorandum also provided a breakdown of the City’s current arrangement with its City Attorney (a hybrid of the two models) and the costs associated with that arrangement.
The memorandum did not include the City’s costs related to third parties who have represented the City, outside of its arrangement with the City Attorney, in specialized areas of law. This memorandum will provide those costs as well as recommended next steps for the Council.
Third Party Legal Services
Per Council Resolution No. 26-13370, as of February 17, 2026, the City’s arrangement with the City Attorney is memorialized in a contract that includes 100 hours of legal services per month for a monthly retainer of $21,250. For months when more than 100 hours of legal services are requested, the City compensates the City Attorney and associated staff by the hour at the rates noted below:
City Attorney - $350 / hr.
Law Firm Partner - $366 / hr.
Legal Associate - $366 / hr.[1]
Paralegal - $184 / hr.
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Law Clerk - $184 / hr.
Worth noting, the contract excludes from its scope of services the following areas of law:
Employee Relations, Labor Negotiations, Employee Discipline, Workers’ Compensation, General Liability Claims, and other specialized areas of law. For those areas, the City has retained outside law firms including Liebert Cassidy Whitmore and Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC; and, has paid the following amounts for their representation over the last three fiscal years:
• Fiscal Year 2023 – 2024 = $ 16,328
• Fiscal Year 2024 – 2025 = $168,288
• Fiscal Year 2025 – 2026 = $ 91,093 (as of 3/26/2026)
A Review of Options
As noted in the December 19, 2025 memorandum, cities that are similar in size to Campbell retain the services of their respective city attorneys by using one of the following two models: (1) in-house counsel working directly as a full-time and fully benefited employee for the city, or (2) contract attorney providing services at a specified hourly rate for a designated number of hours per month, with limited costs for specified materials.
Moving forward, staff recommends the Council consider transitioning away from its current hybrid of these two models and choosing the one model that will best serve the City’s needs. If the Council decides the right approach for the City is to hire an in-house attorney, staff would recommend first reviewing, and if needed, updating the City Attorney job specification; and, if the Council requests, creating new job specifications for any staff needed to support the city attorney position (See December 19, 2025 memorandum for examples of support staff budgeted for in other comparable cities). Once these processes are complete, staff would recommend the City engage an executive search firm to conduct a search for a candidate that would meet the specific needs of Campbell. If the Council were instead to opt for legal services through a contract with an outside attorney or law firm, staff would recommend the City issue a Request for Qualifications or Request for Proposals for the same.
Because the above processes could potentially take a significant amount time, staff also recommends the Council consider whether it would be prudent for the City to enter into a short-term contract with the law firm currently providing supplemental legal services for the City through the City Attorney’s current contract. This approach could help ensure continued and streamlined legal representation during the City’s transition to its new city attorney structure.
[1] This position is comparable to a junior-level attorney position. For comparison with today’s market and to assist in consideration if it is desirable to hire in-house counsel with the support of a junior-level associate, the City completed a Total Compensation Analysis for this position. The market mean for a junior-level attorney’s monthly base salary is $15,569, with a monthly total compensation of $20,251.
PREPARED BY: Angelique Gaeta, Assistant City Manager
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Report Approval Details
Document Title: City Attorney Structure.docx
Attachments: CC Info Memo_City Attorney Employment Structure_12.19.25 (1).pdf
Final Approval
Date:
March 27, 2026
This document and all of its attachments were approved and signed as outlined below:
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To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Date: December 19, 2025 From: Brian Loventhal, City Manager
Subject: City Attorney Employment Structure Options
INFORMATION MEMORANDUM
The City of Campbell (City)’s City Attorney will be retiring at the end of calendar year 2026 and the City Council (Council) is interested in understanding its options for retaining future city attorney services. According to the League of California Cities, “There are two main models for city attorneys in California: the city attorney can be either a full-time…employee (similar to the city manager) or the city may contract with an individual lawyer through a law firm to serve as city attorney, in which case the city attorney is an independent contractor.”1
In deciding which approach is best for the City, a number of factors should be considered, including: the City’s requirements for legal services (i.e., Scope of Services to be rendered), the cost involved with retaining the attorney as a City employee versus as a contractor, and the relationship the City desires the attorney to have with the Council and City staff.
Scope of Services
When it comes to the scope of services required, it is important to note that no attorney can provide every type of legal advice a city may require. While city attorneys tend to concentrate on general municipal law (i.e., land use, economic development, real estate, code enforcement, contracts, and bonds), it is common for a city to occasionally require services for special areas of law, including: discrimination lawsuits, employee discipline actions, workers’ compensation claims, and excessive force claims. For this reason, whether the attorney is hired as an employee of the City or is retained as a contractor, it is in the best interest of the City to ensure the candidate has experience in a wide range of practice areas.
Areas of law not included in the Scope of Services provided will need to be “farmed out” to a third party for coverage.
In addition to the areas of practice desired, the Council must also consider the hours and time commitment it expects from the attorney. Specifically, what are “the council’s meeting habits (does the council generally conduct business at regular meetings or does it 1 League of California Cities’ “Counsel and Council: A Guide To Building A Productive City Attorney-City Council Relationship” (2022), p.18.
MEMORANDUM CITY OF CAMPBELL
Office of the City Manager
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City Attorney Employment Structure Options
December 19, 2025
hold numerous special meetings) and the number of city commissions and boards that require legal attention.”2
“With an understanding of the amount of daily general work and the city’s demand for specialized services, the council is better able to determine which model of city attorney services makes sense for the City.”3
Lastly, the City must consider how it will ensure adequate backup for when the attorney is on vacation or otherwise out of the office, the availability of the attorney on quick notice, and the community’s expectations of the attorney’s functions.
Cost
Cost to the City is one of the biggest considerations in determining the best city attorney model to further explore. Whether the Council is considering a full-time employee or a contractor, there are a number of costs associated with the practice of law that go beyond compensation and benefits and it will be necessary to have a clear understanding of what those costs are, including but not limited to: “legal research tools (subscriptions to codes and online platforms), clerical assistance, office and electronic equipment, bar dues, and registration for mandatory continuing legal education courses.”4 These costs are “typically borne by the city.”5 It will also be important to determine the type and extent of support staff the attorney will need – administrative executive, paralegal, junior associate. The answer to this question will obviously depend on the volume of work the City expects to be performed by the attorney. In the end, for some cities, a full-time city attorney and deputies make economic sense. For other cities, it may be more cost-effective to retain a full-service law firm to provide these services.
Relationship with the Council & Staff
Lastly, the Council should consider whether it desires the attorney to be a fully integrated member of the City’s executive team. If yes, this objective can be achieved by having the attorney be a city employee, with a full-time presence in city hall. Conversely, a contract attorney can be requested to maintain office hours, which can provide staff with an opportunity to have the contact normally associated with an in-house attorney. This latter option can also provide greater independence with the city attorney serving “as a check on city administration.”6
Campbell’s Current Approach
2 Counsel and Council: A Guide To Building A Productive City Attorney-City Council Relationship, p.19. 3 Counsel and Council: A Guide To Building A Productive City Attorney-City Council Relationship, p.19. 4 Counsel and Council: A Guide To Building A Productive City Attorney-City Council Relationship, p.19. 5 Counsel and Council: A Guide To Building A Productive City Attorney-City Council Relationship, p.19. 6 Counsel and Council: A Guide To Building A Productive City Attorney-City Council Relationship, p.19.
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City Attorney Employment Structure Options
December 19, 2025
Currently, the City’s relationship with its City Attorney is a hybrid of the two models recommended by the League of California Cities. For example, the City Attorney serves the City and the Council pursuant to a contract with the City. However, the contract specifically provides that the attorney is retained as an “employee” who “shall receive all benefits granted to department heads…” These benefits include things like premium health care coverage, life insurance, long term disability, a CalPERS pension, and counseling and therapy services through an Employee Assistance Program. In addition, although the attorney is described as an employee, the contract only requires 100 hours of service per month for a monthly retainer of $21,250. For months when more than 100 hours of service is worked or requested, the City compensates the City Attorney by the hour and at the following rates:
• City Attorney - $350 / hr.
• Law Firm Partner - $350 / hr.
• Legal Associate - $285 / hr.
• Paralegal - $165 / hr.
• Law Clerk - $165 / hr.
For reference, the City Attorney’s retainer (salary) + benefits for the last four fiscal years have averaged approximately $361,000. These costs are budgeted at $373,000 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. In addition, billable hours over the retainer over the last four fiscal years have averaged approximately $227,000. These costs are budgeted at $330,000 for FY 2026.
While the City Attorney is expected to cover his “law firm rent, telephone, secretary, bookkeeping, office supplies, insurance, library, taxes and licenses,” the City does allow the City Attorney to conduct an outside law practice and the City continues to cover all costs related to practicing law on its behalf, including: court costs, service of process fees, witness fees, investigator fees, appraiser fees, photos, charts, legal blooks, texts and periodicals, and conference registration, lodging, food and travel. Lastly, the contract between the City and the City Attorney excludes from the required Scope of Services the following areas of law:
Employee Relations, Labor Negotiations, Employee Discipline, Workers’ Compensation, General Liability Claims, and Specialized Areas of Law.
The total City Attorney expenses over the last four fiscal years have averaged approximately $651,000. These costs are also budgeted at $713,000 for FY 2026. These totals do not include costs for third parties to represent the City in those areas of practice that are outside the City Attorney’s Scope of Services. Staff is in the process of gathering those numbers and will provide the Council with that information in the new year so that the Council can be fully informed when it makes its decision on how to best retain City Attorney services.
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What Similar-Sized Cities Do
For a comparison and for consideration of how similar-sized cities approach their relationship with their respective city attorneys, please see the breakdown for the City of Los Altos, the Town of Los Gatos, and the City of Morgan Hill, below.
City of Los Altos: Contract Attorney
• Per agreement for legal services with Berliner Cohen, LLP, the City of Los Altos pays a monthly retainer fee of $18,000 for up to 70 hours of legal services, including all levels of representation, and Council, committee, and commission meetings. • Hourly billing applies after 70 hours is reached, as follows:
o City Attorney/Partner/Associate - $300 / hr.
o Paralegal - $150 / hr.
• The total City Attorney budget for FY 25-26 is $817,000.
Town of Los Gatos: In-House Counsel
• The Los Gatos Town Attorney’s Office structure is made up of the following positions:
o Town Attorney(1.0 FTE)
o Administrative Technician (0.75 FTE)
o Administrative Assistant (0.13 FTE)
o Deputy Town Clerk (0.13 FTE)
o Legal Administrative Assistant (1.0 FTE)
• Currently, only the Town Attorney, Administrative Technician, and Deputy Town Clerk positions are being funded, as shown in bold above.
• The Town Attorney’s monthly base salary is $23,317.
• The total Town Attorney Office budget for FY 25-26 is $ 830,885 City of Morgan Hill: In-House Counsel
• The Morgan Hill Attorney’s Office structure is made up of the following positions:
o City Attorney (1.0 FTE)
o Assistant City Attorney (1.0 FTE)
o Deputy City Attorney(0.5 FTE)
o Support staff member (1.0 FTE)
o Risk Management Analyst (0.5 FTE)
o Special Counsel as needed
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City Attorney Employment Structure Options
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• Currently, only the City Attorney, Assistant City Attorney, Deputy City Attorney, and Risk Management Analyst positions are being funded, as shown in bold above. • The City Attorney’s monthly base salary is $25,827.
• The total City Attorney Office budget for FY 25-26 is $1,046,783.
Next Steps
This memorandum was intended to help the City Council begin to consider the options available to Campbell for retaining a new City Attorney. In the new year, staff will bring the issue to the City Council at a public meeting where the City Council can ask questions of staff and provide direction on how to move forward with finding the best City Attorney model for Campbell that will ultimately result in the City retaining an exceptional candidate.
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