Lawsuits. Environmental regulations. Contracts. Everett faces many complex matters. So it employs seven civil attorneys and a risk manager and routinely has spent more than a $1 million a year on outside legal help. City Attorney Jim Iles said his office tries to handle everything it can in-house. B
ut they don’t have the time or expertise to handle everything. Here’s a look at the city’s spending on outside private lawyers over the past 11 years:
11-year total: $16,579,669; average per year: $1,507,242
“Like most legal firms, ours reaches a point where we need expertise in areas and if we don’t have that expertise or an issue is extremely complicated, that’s when we go to outside counsel,” Iles said.
The addition of three assistant city attorneys lessened the need to hire outside lawyers in 2009 and 2010. Today the city’s civil division employs a city attorney, six assistant city attorneys, a risk manager and an administrative assistant. In 2010, salaries and benefits totaled $1,080,882.
But with outside private lawyers charging the city more than $400 an hour, even dashing off an email or reading a fax quickly becomes pricey. Below is a selection of line items from attorney bills.
Examples of Everett legal billings
| Amount | Hours | Firm | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 13, 2009 | $25.00 | 0.10 | Anderson Hunter Law Firm | Civil attorney’s bill for reviewing a fax. |
| April 2, 2009 | $25.00 | 0.10 | Michael Mirande | Preparation for a meeting with a councilman about the Tulalip Tribes. |
| Oct. 16, 2009 | $27.50 | 0.10 | Christie Law Group | “Analyze” a phone call from a Herald reporter. |
| June 3, 2009 | $80.00 | 0.50 | Newton Kight | Attend meeting regarding the Kidstage theater program. |
| Sept. 16, 2009 | $137.50 | 0.50 | Anderson Hunter Law Firm | Exchanging emails with Everett’s risk manager in the city legal department. |
| March 25, 2010 | $157.50 | 0.70 | Anderson Hunter Law Firm | Attend a monthly Civil Service meeting and advise the city attorney on whether reporters should receive a meeting agenda. |
| March 29, 2009 | $162.00 | 0.60 | AMS Law | Telephone conference with city spokeswoman about a labor investigation at the Fire Department. |
| Sept. 2, 2009 | $330.00 | 1.20 | Christie Law Group | Briefing for the Everett City Council. |
| July 2009 | $442.50 | 1.50 | Law Office of Karen Willie | Bill for a month of leaving voicemails, checking emails and “chasing” down another attorney. |
| 2009 | $3,579.75 | 16.65 | Anderson Hunter Law Firm | A month’s work on “general matters,” including Civil Service meetings and a public hearing by the Public Works department. |
| 2009 | $5,130.00 | 10.80 | Hillis Clark Martin and Peterson Law Offices | For reviewing contracts with Tethys Enterprises, which for a time wanted to use Everett water for a bottling plant. |
| 2009 | $5,461.00 | 13.00 | Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis | Studying environmental issues on a planned multimillion-dollar development by the Snohomish River. |
| September 2009 | $10,762.00 | 46.40 | Christie Law Group | Analysis, research and advice for city attorneys on the police shooting of Niles Meservey. |
| 2009 | $77,903.00 | 231.00 | Stoel Rives | To fight lawsuits from neighbors unhappy about the expansion of Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. |
| 2009-10 | $458,035.00 | 1,480.46 | Perkins Coie; Hillis Clark Martin and Peterson Law Offices; Christie Law Group; Allen, Hansen & Maybrown | Billings from the four firms hired to handle litigation and labor issues from the police shooting of Niles Meservey. |
| 2000-10 | $732,123.00 | Thomas Mortimer Jr. | For regular, expert advice on water rights, water contracts and the Snohomish River Regional Water Authority. |
This story is part of Need to Know, our new watchdog page. Click here for more Need to Know.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
