May 17, 2022
City Attorney's Office
DATE: May 17, 2022
TO: Mayor Butt and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Dave Aleshire, Interim City Attorney
Subject:
Approval of six Legal Services Agreement amendments
and one new legal services agreement with the law firms of (1) Allen, Glaessner, Hazelwood & Werth LLP; (2) Best Best & Krieger; (3) Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley,
PC; (4) Edrington, Shirmer & Murphy
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Total expenditure for the legal services amendments is not to exceed $760,000. A total of $635,000 will be paid from Risk Management General Liability budget with
account string 50182316-400554, and the remaining
balance will be paid from the City Attorney’s Office
budget with account string of 01151014-400206. The City Attorney’s Office’s is seeking a budget appropriation from the General Fund in the amount of $125,000.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
Legal Services Agreements and amendments have been
approved as noted in the initial agreements and
amendments. Additionally, six amendments and one new
legal services agreement were available for City Council consideration on December 21, 2021 and January 11,
2022, but were not acted upon.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
To ensure the City has appropriate legal representation relating to the general litigation and to municipal advice, the City Attorney’s Office requests approval of the legal services agreements and amendments in a total amount
not to exceed of $760,000.
AGENDA
REPORT
May 17, 2022
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE six amendments to legal service agreements
and one legal services agreement with the law firms of
(1) Allen, Glaessner, Hazelwood & Werth LLP; (2) Best,
Best & Krieger; (3) Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley,
PC; (4) Edrington, Shirmer & Murphy (5) Manning &
Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez Trester LLP, (6) McNamara Ney,
and (7) Orbach Huff Suarez & Henderson LLP for a total
amount of $760,000, and REQUEST a budget
appropriation from the General Fund in the amount of
$125,000 to the City Attorney’s Office – City Attorney’s Office (Heather McLaughlin 510-620-6509).
DISCUSSION:
A proposed list of law firms requiring contract amendments were brought to the City Council on December 21, 2021, for review and approval. The City Council requested additional information and the item was continued. As such, staff is providing an update and request for budget appropriations and contract amendments. The City Attorney’s Office (CAO) is actively working with the Interim City Attorney, City Manager, Interim Finance Director, and Risk Manager to decrease legal expenditures City-wide. At this juncture, an analysis of Legal Service Agreement (LSA) expenditures is in progress.
Moving forward, all legal services agreements will be managed by the CAO and will brought to the City Council for approval in a timely manner.
All law firms listed in both charts below are on the City Attorney’s Office’s approved Request for Qualifications (RFQ) 2018 and 2021 lists. In addition, these firms have the experience and expertise necessary to provide continuing representation for the City of Richmond in pending dangerous condition, police/tort defense and other municipal law litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts. This request is made to ensure the City continues to have legal counsel to defend the City and Richmond Housing Authority in ongoing litigation and assist with the development of affordable housing.
City staff members are working in a coordinated, interdepartmental manner to mitigate risks and potential litigation as well as claims against the City. The broader goal of this effort is to decrease expenditures related to legal services, while continuing to provide the City Council with an extremely high level of service to implement their policy direction.
The chart below outlines the law firm, the requested amendment amount, the total contract amount, and an inventory of pending litigation and advice matters that each firm is handling for the City and for RHA. All the amendments listed below also have a term extension through June 30, 2023.
May 17, 2022
LAW FIRM AMOUNT
REQUESTED
TOTAL
CONTRACT
AMOUNT
PENDING
MATTERS
DEPARTMENT
ACCOUNT
STRING
Allen,
Glaessner,
Hazelwood
& Werth LLP
$210,000
*requested
from 12/21
$710,000 Dangerous
Condition
litigation:
Cambruzzi,
Beamer,
Abbas, Oliver,
McCoy,
Phillips, Garcia,
Ponce, Avalos,
Morais, Wu,
Stewart
Risk
Management/
General Liability
with account
string 50182316-
400554
Best, Best &
Krieger
$50,000
*requested
from 12/21
$175,000 Land Use
Litigation:
Sprawldef
Request for
budget
appropriation to
the City
Attorney’s Office
with an account
string of
01151014-
400206
Colantuono,
Highsmith &
Whatley LLP
$75,000
*requested
from 12/21
$400,000 General Litigation
Denham and
general advice
Request for
budget
appropriation to
the City
Attorney’s Office
with an account
string of
01151014-
400206
Edrington,
Schirmer &
Murphy
$100,000
New Legal
Services
Agreement
*requested
12/21
$100,000
General Litigation
representing the
City and RHA
Risk
Management/
General Liability
50182316-
400554
Manning &
Kass, Ellrod,
Ramirez,
Trester LLP
$75,000
*requested
12/21
$120,000 Personal Injury
Litigation:
Gomez
Risk
Management/
General Liability
50182316-
400554
May 17, 2022
LAW FIRM AMOUNT
REQUESTED
TOTAL
CONTRACT
AMOUNT
PENDING
MATTERS
DEPARTMENT
ACCOUNT
STRING
McNamara
Ney
$125,000
*requested
12/21
$420,000 Police Litigation:
Ferreira-Dias,
Hernandez,
Sutherland, and
Montanocordoba
Risk
Management/
General Liability
50182316-
400554
Orbach Huff
Suarez &
Henderson
LLP
$125,000
*requested
12/21
$340,000 General Litigation
Shelton, Reason,
Porter, Gutzalenko
and Wilson
Risk
Management/
General Liability
50182316-
400554
The Interim City Attorney requests that City Council review the time extension for the following contracts. This approval takes place at the staff level and is provided for your information only. All the legal services below have received City Council approval. The City Attorney’s Office is not requesting any additional amendment amount but simply highlighting the contract amendments that are extended for time only through June 30, 2023.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
LAW FIRM TIME EXTENSION PENDING MATTERS
Burke,
Williams &
Sorensen
Seeking time
extension to June 30,
2023.
Provide legal services related to RHA Asset
Repositioning activities as required by the
PHARS Agreement and Action Plan between
RHA, the City of Richmond and HUD.
Colantuono
Highsmith
Whatley
Seeking time
extension to June 30,
2023
PG&E Litigation
Liebert
Cassidy &
Whitmore
Seeking time
extension to June 30,
2023
Employment Litigation
Arriaga, Medina, Padilla et al., Zeidan
Newdorf
Legal
Seeking time
extension to June 30,
2023
General Litigation
East Bay Regional Park District, Solvay, Fraizer
and Agress
Shartsis
Friese
Seeking time
extension to June 30,
2023
Point Molate DDA
May 17, 2022
Attachment 1- Allen Glaessner Hazelwood & Werth LLP
Attachment 2- Best Best & Krieger
Attachment 3- Burke Williams & Sorensen (time extension only) Attachment 4- Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley
Attachment 5- Colantuono Highsmith & Whatley (time extension only) Attachment 6- Edrington, Schirmer & Murphy
Attachment 7- Liebert Cassidy & Whitmore (time extension only) Attachment 8- Manning & Kass
Attachment 9- McNamara Ney
Attachment 10- Newdorf Legal (time extension only)
Attachment 11- Orbach Huff Henderson
Attachment 12- Shartsis Friese (time extension only)