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Home My WebLink About1999-06-01; City Council; 15247; Retention of Special Counsel, . CITY OF CAhSBAD -AGENDA BILL AB# /< gq? TITLE: MTG. 6/l I99 DEPT. CA DEPT. HD. RETENTION OF SPECIAL COUNSEL CITY ATTY. CITY MGR. \ RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve Resolution No. 99-G?w authorizing retention of additional special counsel for eminent domain and condemnation lawsuits. ITEM EXPLANATION: The Council has previously authorized the City Attorney to retain certain law firms as special counsel. From time to time, these authorizations should be reaffirmed and amended to include new law firms and current proposal letters. The City Attorney recommends that the City Council authorize the retention of additional special counsel for real estate acquisition the law firms of Gatzke, Dillon & Ballance, and Woodruff Spradlin & Smart. GENERAL LIABILITY Daley and Heft Butz, Lucas and Dunn Law Offices of Charles A. Vivian0 Law Offices of Bartlett, Kirch & Lievers LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT/CIVIL RIGHTS MATTERS Best Best & Krieger Daley & Heft Whitmore, Johnson & Bolanos WORKERS’ COMPENSATION England, Hodik & Trovillion Gillette, Loof, Langton & Hagner Heggeness & Sweet Graves, Roberson & Bourassa EMINENT DOMAIN AND CONDEMNATION Asaro, Keagy, Freeland & McKinley Daley and Heft Brown, Diven, Hessell& Brewer Best Best & Krieger SPECIAL REDEVELOPMENT COUNSEL Goldfarb and Lipman Kane, Balmer & Berkman Agenda Bill No. 15, A+? Page 2 REAL ESTATE Gatzke, Dillon & Ballance Woodruff Spradlin & Smart FISCAL IMPACT: Funds for retention of special counsel are already included in the City’s self-insurance budget. EXHIBITS: 1. Resolution No. 99-247 1 2 1 u 4 5 6 7 a 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 la 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 RESOLUTION NO. 99-207 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, AUTHORIZING THE RETENTION OF ADDITIONAL SPECIAL COUNSEL WHEREAS, section 2.14.130 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code provides that the City Council may employ special counsel under terms it considers proper; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined, upon recommendation of the City Attorney, that it is necessary to retain additional special counsel for eminent domain and condemnation matters, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City-of Carl&ad, California, as follows: 1. That the above recitations are true and correct. 2. That the City Attorney is hereby authorized to employ the law firm of Gatzke Dillon & Ballance as he considers appropriate pursuant to the “Proposed Gatzke Dillon & Ballance Rates for Legal Services” attached hereto as Exhibit “A”. 3. That the City Attorney is hereby authorized to employ the law firm of Woodruff Spradlin & Smart as he considers appropriate pursuant to the “Proposed Woodruff Spradlin & Smart Rates for Legal Services” attached hereto as Exhibit “B”. 4. That the City Council authorizes the expenditure of funds as may be necessary to pay the fees of special counsel for eminent domain and condemnation matters. Ill Ill Ill Ill 3 I ) PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad held on the 8th day of June , 1999 by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Council Members Lewis, Nygaard, Finnila, Hall & Kulchin NOES: None ABSENT: None AMHA L&!&.l?ENl@ANZ, City Clerk KAREN R. KUNDTZ, Assistant City Clerk (SEAL) GATZKE,DILLON & BALLANCE ATTORNEYS & COUNSELORS AT LAW 192, PALOMAR OAKS WAY. SUITE 200 CARLSSAD, CALIFORNIA St006 TELEPHONE: l760,431-950, F*.CSI”,CE’ (760,43,-9s12 May 21,1999 Hand Delivered Ronald R. Ball City Attorney City of Carlsbad 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 Re: Legal Services Proposal Dear Ron: Thank you for considering our firm for possible retention by the City of Carlsbad in connection with a potential litigation matter. As you requested, we have enclosed a copy of our firm resume summarizing the experience and qualifications of our firm. I would be the principal attorney of the firm responsible for the services rendered in this matter. The firm may assign an associate or a legal assistant, as necessary, to assist me in the work directed by the City. The hourly rates which we are currently using for public sector clients on land use planning, epvironmental and other related litigation matters are as follows: Mark J. Dillon $200.00 per hour Lori D. Ballance $190.00 per hour Michael S. Haberkom $175 .OO per hour Other Associates $160.00 to $170.00 per hour Legal Assistants $ 85.00 per hour Our firm does not charge separately for routine secretarial or clerical time. Our current copying charges are $.20 per copy for copies made in-house on behalf of the client. For larger volume copying (generally any copying project over 500 pages), we usually send the project out for copying and bill the client only for the actual costs of copying charged to us. Depending upon the volume, these costs run approximately $.08 per copy (single-sided, non-color copying). GATZKE,DILLON 2% BALLANCE Ronald R. Ball May 21,1999 Page 2 We would request reimbursement for our telephone expenses. We treat out-going FAX charges the same as telephone charges: the only reimbursement is for the telephone line time, rebilled at our cost. We do not charge for in-coming FAX documents. All other costs and out-of-pocket disbursements, such as travel expenses, charges for computer-based legal research (e.g., LEXIS), and messenger or courier services, are rebilled at our cost. Our practice is to submit statements on a monthly basis for fees and costs incurred. Our statements are presented in a line-item format describing the specific services performed, and the specific costs incurred. A summary of the hours spent by each attorney or legal assistant, and the applicable billing rate for each individual, is also included with the statement. We would expect to receive payment for our professional services rendered and costs advanced within 30 days of receipt. These billing rates would remain in effect at least through March 1, 2000. If our representation continues beyond that time, we would like the opportunity to renegotiate those rates, if appropriate, based upon then prevailing economic circumstances and conditions. If you have any questions regarding this letter, or the terms of our possible representation, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for the opportunity to present this proposal to you. I look forward to hearing from you. Mark J. Dillon of Gatzke, Dillon & Ballance MJD:dsm Enclosure LAW OFFICES OF WOODRUFF,SPRADLIN&SMART A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 701 SOUTH PARKER STREET, SUITE 7000 n ORANGE, CA 92868-4724 I (714) 558-7000 = FAX (714) 835-7787 DIRECT DIAL: (714) 564-2603 DIRECT FAX: (714) 565-2503 E-MAIL: JRS@WSS-LAW.COM May 24,1999 VIA FACSIMILE Ronald Ball, Esq. City Attorney City of Carlsbad 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 Re: Firm Resume Dear Ron: Pursuant to our discussion, I am enclosing our firm resume. The firm is City Attorney to the Cities of Garden Grove, Tustin, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Hills, Paramount, and newly added Hawaiian Gardens. In addition, we are general counsel to a number of special districts, including the Orange County Transportation Authority, South Coast Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District. Our firm provides a full gamut of municipal law services, including, of course, property acquisition matters. We take particular pride in providing a high quality of service with an eye to cost containment on behalf of our clients. (In a private survey a few years ago, Carl Warren rated our firm as best in Orange County for reasonableness in cost billings with respect to tort defense work.) I would be happy to discuss billing rates at your convenience. TERRY C. ANDRUS n JUDY A. BARNWELL n M. LOIS BOBAK n JOHN E. CAVANAUGH w CRAIG G. FARRJNGTON n RODELL R FICK JOSEPH W. FORBATH n LOIS E. JEFFRJZY n MAGDALENA LONA-WIANT W JULIE McCLOSKJZY n THOMAS F. NIXON n DAVID B. OLSON n JASON E. RJZSNICK OMAR SANDOVAL n JOHN R SHAW n GREGORY E. SIMONIAN n KENNARD R SMART, JR. n DANIEL K SPRADLJN m THOMAS L. WOODRUFF 1’ ’ Ronald Ball, Esq. May 24,1999 Page 2 It was good seeing you at the League conference. Very truly yours, WOODRUFF, SPRADLIN & SMART A Professional Corporation JRS:Igw Enclosure 105324\1