October 1, 2024
City Attorney's Office
DATE: October 1, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Dave Aleshire, City Attorney
Shannon Moore, Chief Assistant City Attorney
Beth Arnese, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Kimberly Chin, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Subject:
New Legal Services Agreement with Liebert Cassidy
Whitmore for Employment Litigation
FINANCIAL IMPACT: This legal services agreement will be for a total amount not to exceed $300,000, with term ending June 30, 2026.
This agreement is charged to the Risk Management
General Liability Fund 50182316-400554.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
N/A
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
A legal services agreement with Liebert, Cassidy,
Whitmore is needed to ensure that the City has
appropriate legal representation and counsel in future and pending employment litigation matters.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: APPROVE a new legal services agreement with Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore, for an amount not to exceed
$300,000, for a term beginning September 1, 2024, to
June 30, 2026 – City Attorney’s Office (Kimberly Chin
510-620-6709/Beth Arnese 510-620-6848).
AGENDA
REPORT
October 1, 2024
DISCUSSION:
The City Attorney’s Office is requesting a legal services agreement with Liebert, Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) to provide legal advice and representation for employment matters. LCW is a law firm with several offices throughout California that exclusively provides legal services to public sector agencies. LCW also has a consortium that offers management training at a reduced cost to the City. The services provided by LCW have been extremely beneficial to the City and performed in a very satisfactory manner, and has entered into various previous and current legal services agreements with the City to handle litigation and employment matters. As such, continuing the working relationship with LCW will provide stability in litigation, negotiations and employment law issues, and it would be detrimental to the City's interests to change law firms at this juncture.
The rates for LCW are:
Partners $435/Hour; Senior Counsel $365/Hour; Associates $260 - $345/Hour; Labor Relations/Human Resources Consultant $280/Hour; Classification & Compensation Consultant $200/Hour; Paralegals $145/Hour; E-Discovery Specialists $145/Hour; Law Clerks $145 - $185/Hour
The City Attorney’s Office is requesting that the City enter into a contract with Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore, for a total contract amount of $300,000, for a contract term of September 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Legal Services Agreement with Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore (proposed)