Reso. No.
RESOLUTION NO. ____
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND AUTHORIZING THE CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE TO ENTER INTO LEGAL SERVICES
AGREEMENTS WITH LAW FIRMS ON AN AS NEEDED BASIS FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $350,000 PER FIRM, OVER THREE YEARS WITH AN OPTION TO
EXTEND THE AGREEMENTS FOR TWO YEARS WITH FUNDING TO BE
PROVIDED IN DEPARTMENT BUDGETS GOING FORWARD
WHEREAS, the Richmond City Attorney’s Office provides all legal services for the City of Richmond and City boards and commissions; and
WHEREAS, the Richmond City Attorney’s Office and other City departments, including the Community Development Department, City Manager’s Office and Port, anticipate needing legal services for both municipal law advice and to represent the City and other related entities in litigation; and
WHEREAS, the Richmond City Attorney’s Office seeks to hire a diverse group of qualified law firms and attorneys that will provide high-quality legal services and are dedicated to containing legal costs. In addition, the City Attorney’s Office wants to build ongoing relationships with firms that share our commitment to quality and to cost containment, as well as to expand and strengthen our relationships with Richmond-based firms, small firms and firms that are committed to equity and inclusion; and
WHEREAS, selection of outside counsel for all matters -- large and small-- is based on the quality of work, commitment to controlling costs, adherence to budgets and a demonstrated commitment to providing equal employment opportunities, equity and inclusion in its workforce; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, the City Attorney’s Office solicited a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for legal services and selected thirty-five (35) law firms to be retained on an as needed basis; and
WHEREAS, on July 19, 2021, the Richmond City Attorney’s Office developed a more robust RFQ for municipal law legal services that sought more detailed responses from applicants to better inform the selection process; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney’s Office also broadened the outreach to eligible law firms by reaching out to more than seventy-six law firms and organizations, including the Contra Costa County City Attorneys Bar Association, Charles Houston Bar Association, California Women Lawyers, Filipino Bar Association, Korean American Bar Association, San Francisco La Raza Association, South Asian Bar Association and West County Bar Association; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney’s Office received forty-six (46) responses to the RFQ and all responses were reviewed by a panel of attorneys in the City Attorney’s Office; and
WHEREAS, the panel recommends the following forty-six (46) law firms to be used on an as needed, case-by-case basis:
Aaronson, Dickerson, Cohn & Lanzone
Aleshire & Wynder, LLP
Allen Glaessner Hazelwood & Werth
LLP
Armento and Hynes, LLP
Atchison, Barisone & Condotti
Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud &
Romo
Bassi Edlin Huie & Blum
Best Best & Krieger LLP
Boucher Law
Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP
Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC
Downey Brand LLP
Edrington Schirmer & Murphy LLP
Ellis Investigations Law Corporation
Fox Rothschild LLP
Goldfarb & Lipman LLP
Jarvis, Fay & Gibson, LLP
Jones Mayer
Kane, Ballmer & Berkman
Kramer Workplace Investigations
Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann &
Girard
Lafayette & Kumagai LLP
Law Offices of Bill Ford
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
Maloney Employment Law
Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez &
Trester, LLP
Reso. No.
McNamara Law Firm
Meyers Nave
Newdorf Legal
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak &
Stewart, P.C.
Oppenheimer Investigations Group LLP
Orbach Huff + Henderson
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Remy Moose Manley LLP
Renne Public Law Group
Richards, Watson & Gershon
Rimon Law
Schiff Hardin LLP
Shartsis Friese LLP
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP
Silver & Wright LLP
Sloan Sakai Yeung & Wong LLP
Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, A
Professional Corporation
Telecom Law Firm PC
The Sohagi Law Group, Plc
Van Dermyden Makus Law Corporatio
WHEREAS, the City Attorney’s Office requests authority to enter into legal services agreements with each of the individual firms for an amount not-to-exceed $350,000, over a three-year period, from January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025 with an option to extend the agreements for two years; and
WHEREAS, this action does not terminate the existing legal services agreements that are currently in place on various projects and cases. Those agreements will continue and may be amended to allow work under the agreement to continue. Those agreements will not be terminated unless there is a good reason to terminate the agreement such as the end of the case or matter or if the work was not meeting the City’s goals; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney’s Office is not requesting to fund each one of the legal services agreements at this time. The funding source will be budgeted in the applicable department’s budget; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney’s Office will manage the legal services agreements, and each legal services agreement will be paid out of professional services accounts held by various City departments, including the Risk Management Division, City Attorney’s Office, Port, Richmond Housing Authority, Community Development Department and the City Manager’s Office; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Richmond hereby authorizes the City Attorney’s Office to enter into legal services agreements for legal services with the firms mentioned above, for an amount not to exceed $350,000 per firm, over a three and a half year period, from January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025, with an option to extend the agreements for two additional years.
*********************
I certify that the foregoing resolution was passed and adopted by the Council of the City of Richmond at a regular meeting thereof held ______________, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT:
CLERK OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND
(SEAL)
Approved:
Reso. No.
Mayor
Approved as to form:
City Attorney
State of California }
County of Contra Costa : ss.
City of Richmond }
I certify that the foregoing is a true copy of Resolution No. _____, finally passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Richmond at a regular meeting held on ____, 2021.
Pamela Christian, Clerk of the City of Richmond