HomeMy WebLinkAbout13037RESOLUTION NO. 13037
A RESOLUTION ENGAGING FISHER & PHILLIPS, LLP, TO
PROVIDE LEGAL SERVICES RELATING TO BINDING
INTEREST ARBITRATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF POLICE OFFICERS LOCAL 537
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PUEBLO, that:
SECTION 1.
The Legal Services Agreement between Fisher & Phillips, LLP, and the City of
Pueblo, a copy of which is attached hereto, having been approved as to form by the City
Attorney, is hereby approved. The City Attorney is authorized to execute the
engagement letter on behalf of the City.
SECTION 2.
Funds for services to be performed and costs expended in such representation
shall be paid from the Police Department’s professional services budget.
SECTION 3.
The officers and staff of the City are directed and authorized to perform any and
all acts consistent with the intent of this Resolution and the attached Legal Services
Agreement to effectuate purposes of same.
SECTION 4.
This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon final passage.
INTRODUCED: August 25, 2014
BY: Eva Montoya
COUNCILPERSON
City Clerk’s Office Item # M-2
Background Paper for Proposed Resolution
COUNCIL MEETING DATE: August 25, 2014
TO: President Sandra K. Daff and Members of City Council
CC: Sam Azad, City Manager
VIA: Gina Dutcher, City Clerk
FROM: Daniel C. Kogovsek, City Attorney, Law Department
SUBJECT: A RESOLUTION ENGAGING FISHER & PHILLIPS, LLP, TO PROVIDE LEGAL
SERVICES RELATING TO BINDING INTEREST ARBITRATION WITH THE
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF POLICE OFFICERS LOCAL 537
SUMMARY:
Attached is a proposed Resolution authorizing the City to engage Fisher & Phillips, LLP, to
provide legal services relating to binding interest arbitration with the International Brotherhood of
Police Officers Local 537 (“IBPO Local 537”).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION:
Since 2011, the City has engaged Fisher & Phillips, LLP to represent its interests in negotiations
and arbitrations of successor labor agreements with the Police Officer bargaining unit and then
the fire fighter bargaining unit. Most recent Council action on this issue was a resolution
engaging Fisher & Phillips, LLP to provide legal services relating to binding interest arbitration in
2013.
BACKGROUND:
Pursuant to Section 8-14, City Charter, the City is required to submit to binding interest
arbitration all unresolved issues in negotiating successor contracts with IBPO Local 537. It
would be in the best interest of the City to engage the services of legal counsel who specialize
in such representation.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Funds for services to be performed and costs expended in such representation shall be paid
from the Police Department’s professional services budget. In no event shall the amount
exceed $25,000.
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION:
Not applicable.
STAKEHOLDER PROCESS:
Not applicable.
ALTERNATIVES:
The City could engage a different firm to provide these services or perform same internally.
Fisher & Phillips, LLP, however, has significant experience in this area, has provided these
services in a professional and cost efficient manner in the past, has acted as the negotiator in
the present negotiations and has prepared for and properly positioned the City with respect to
the arbitration.
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the engagement.
Attachments:
Legal services agreement
FISHER 8 PHILLIPS LLP
ATTORNEYS AT LAW Denver
1801 California
www.laborlawyers.com Suite 2700
Denver,CO 80202
(303)218-3650 Tel
(303)218-3651 Fax
Writer's Direct Dial:
August 15, 2014 303-218-3661
Writer's E-mail:
tfredrickson@laborlawyers.com
Mr. Daniel C. Kogovsek
City Attorney
City of Pueblo Law Department
503 N. Main St., Suite 203
Pueblo, CO 81003
Dear Mr. Kogovsek:
Thank you for selecting Fisher & Phillips LLP to assist you with the 2014 Police
Arbitration. The principal factors in determining our fees will be the time and effort
devoted to the matter and the hourly rates of the lawyers and legal assistants involved.
My current hourly rate is $435.00, less the 20% discount previously agreed upon for an
effective hourly rate of$348.00. A similar discount will be applied to the hourly rate of
any other attorney, law clerk or paralegal who work on this matter. Our hourly rates range
from$580.00 for our most experienced attorneys to$220.00 for our most junior attorneys.
Depending on experience, the rates of law clerks and legal assistants range from$120.00
to $290.00.
In addition, we have agreed to cap the total fees for this matter at$25,000.00. The
City will only be billed for work performed during arbitration, but those billings will not
exceed this cap.
This engagement is subject to the terms and conditions of Exhibits A and 1, both
attached and incorporated herein by reference.
Other charges are explained in the accompanying Appendix, which sets forth in
greater detail the terms on which we will represent you. If you agree to these terms,
please countersign the enclosed copies of this letter and the Appendix and return them
for our files.
We appreciate the confidence you have shown by selecting us as your counsel in
this matter, and we look forward to working with you.
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FPDOCS 30086530.1
Mr. Daniel C. Kogovsek
August 15, 2014
Page 2
Please call me if you have any questions about our arrangement.
Since
Todd A. Fredrickson
For FISHER & PHILLIPS LLP
I have read and understood the foregoing, and I accept the terms and conditions
as set forth herein on behalf of the City of Pueblo.
City of Pueblo
Date Daniel C. Kogovsek r
City Attorney
TAF: hmv
Enclosures
FPDOCS 30086530.1
APPENDIX
SUMMARY OF ENGAGEMENT
We appreciate your confidence in selecting Fisher & Phillips LLP to represent you in
connection with the matter described in the accompanying letter. The rules of professional
responsibility applicable to lawyers strongly encourage written agreements between lawyers
and their clients to ensure that there are no misunderstandings that could compromise the
representation. For that reason, this sets forth the standard terms of our engagement as your
lawyers. Unless modified in writing by mutual agreement, these terms will be an integral part of
our agreement with you. Therefore, we ask that you review this statement carefully and contact
us promptly if you have any questions.We suggest that you retain this statement in your file.
Scope and Duration of Representation
It is our policy that the person or entity that we represent is the person or entity that is
identified in our engagement letter. Unless the Firm agrees in writing to do so, our engagement
does not include any employees, affiliates, or members of that person or entity.
Our practice focuses on advising and representing employers and comparable entities in
matters arising under the laws governing labor, employment, and discrimination, and our
representation is limited to the matter or matters described in the accompanying letter(although
the scope of that representation might be enlarged by a supplemental engagement letter). We
do not provide advice or representation concerning whether any matters are covered by a
client's insurance policies, and, in the event of a dispute over coverage, we cannot advise or
represent you in connection with such a dispute. We therefore urge you to review your policies
to determine whether any matter for which you might retain us is covered by such a policy; if
you believe that the policy might cover any such matter, it will be your responsibility to notify the
insurance company.
We do not practice securities law or corporate law, and we do not advise our clients on
such matters. Neither do we undertake to determine or advise our clients whether any
particular matter or potential matter is material or must be disclosed for financial-audit purposes.
An attorney-client relationship will exist between us for the duration of the matter for
which we have been engaged, unless that relationship is earlier terminated in writing by either of
us. In cases in which we have been engaged to provide general labor and employment advice,
the relationship will end twelve months after the last substantive work you ask us to perform.
The term "substantive work"does not include routine responses to auditors' requests.
During the representation, our advice will of course be consistent with applicable legal
principles and interpretations as of the date we provide it. However, those principles and
interpretations are subject to change, and we cannot undertake to advise you of later changes
at our own initiative. We will be pleased to respond to future requests that we reevaluate our
advice in the light of any such developments.
Fees and Charges
In addition to the fees for legal services described in the accompanying letter, we will
charge you for long-distance telephone calls, travel-and-lodging, photocopying, express
delivery, facsimile transmissions, computer-aided legal research, and similar items connected
with our handling your work. Ordinarily, these amounts will be set forth separately on your
billing statement. Please let us know should you have any questions about the way in which we
compute non-fee charges. On some occasions, there might be third-party charges, such as for
deposition transcripts, outside printing or copying, expert witnesses, or any one of a variety of
other things. Our policy is to submit all invoices from third-party vendors to you client for direct
payment, and we request that you pay these invoices immediately.
We do not charge for secretarial overtime, and we do not bill for time spent in travel
unless (i)we are working while we travel; or(ii) the travel occurs during our normal 9:00 a.m.-to-
6:00 p.m. workday. We make our best effort to travel outside our normal workday.
Billing Procedures
Our practice is to send bills on a monthly basis. Our statements generally cover fees
and charges for the prior calendar month, although sometimes fees or charges might not be
immediately available for one reason or another and will therefore be billed later. We ask that
our statements be paid within 30 days after receipt. If you ever have questions about an
invoice, please do not hesitate to contact us promptly to discuss them. If for any reason a
statement cannot be paid within 30 days after receipt, please call us promptly so that we can
discuss this.
Payments to Trust Accounts
All trust deposits we receive from you will be placed in a trust account for your benefit.
As required by law, your deposit will be placed in a pooled account if it is not expected to earn a
net return, taking into consideration the size and anticipated duration of the deposit and the
transaction costs, with the interest earned on the pooled account being payable to a charitable
foundation as provided by law. Trust deposits that are expected to earn a net return will also be
placed in the pooled account, unless you request a segregated account. Interest earned on the
segregated trust account will be added to the deposit for your benefit.
Communications
It is of course essential that clients and attorneys communicate effectively with one
another to exchange information and to discuss developments and possible courses of action.
Naturally, we will keep you informed as developments occur and will consult with you as to the
appropriate steps to take. By the same token, we ask that you keep us informed of your
objectives and wishes and that, if we ask for specific information or for instructions necessary to
our adequately carrying out our representation, you will respond accurately, completely, and as
quickly as possible.
As you know, communications between clients and attorneys are generally privileged
and are not discoverable by third parties. However, recent court decisions have emphasized
how easily that privilege can be lost, such as where attorney correspondence is routed through
a client's routine intra-office mail, or where attorney/client communications are discussed with
persons outside the attorney/client relationship. Any practical steps you can take to ensure that
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our attorney/client communications are not disclosed to third parties will be invaluable in
protecting your right to claim that privilege.
Avoidance of Conflicts
In the event you have a potential dispute with a third party, and you wish to discuss with
us the possibility of us representing you in connection with that potential dispute, we request
that you do not disclose the nature of that dispute or any relevant facts until you have provided
us with the name of the potential adverse party and afforded us the opportunity to determine
whether the representation would create a conflict with another client.
Similarly, because we represent a number of staffing agencies or Professional Employee
Organizations (PEOs), it is important that, before you ask us to comment upon such an entity's
actions taken, advice given, or services otherwise rendered, you first disclose to us the name of
that organization or agency.
Termination of Representation
You may terminate our representation at any time, with or without cause, by notifying us.
If you do, papers and property which you have provided to us will be returned to you promptly
upon receipt of payment for outstanding fees and costs. Our internal files regarding
administrative matters pertaining to the case will be retained. Termination of our services will not
affect your responsibility for payment of legal services rendered and additional charges incurred
both before termination and in connection with an orderly transition of the matter, including the
copying of any files that you request that we provide to you or to substitute counsel.
The rules of professional responsibility for the jurisdictions in which we practice list
several types of conduct or circumstances that require or allow us to withdraw from representing
a client. These include, for example: nonpayment of fees or costs, use of our services to
perform a criminal or fraudulent act, misrepresentation of or failure to disclose material facts,
action contrary to our advice, and conflicts-of-interest with another client. In addition, we
reserve the right to stop our work for you if you fail to cooperate with us, or if any account is past
due and we have been unable to agree on a mutually acceptable plan for payment. You agree
that we may withdraw from the representation under these circumstances, subject to court
approval where such approval is required for such withdrawals. In the event we seek to
withdraw, you agree to engage new counsel immediately.
Document Retention
At the conclusion of the Representation, we return to the client any documents that are
specifically requested to be returned. As to any documents so returned, we might elect to keep
a copy of the documents in our files. At the close of any matter, we generally purge our files in
that matter of unnecessary materials and send the retained materials to a storage facility for
storage at our expense. We will maintain the files in storage for a period of ten years. After that
time, we reserve the right to destroy the documents in the stored files without further notice to
you. You hereby consent to such destruction of your documents in our files, unless we receive
from you, within ten years after the close of the matter, written instructions for a different
disposition of your documents.
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Your Right to Arbitrate Fee Disputes
if you disagree with the amount of our fee, please take up the question with your
principal lawyer contact or with the Firm's managing partner. Typically, such disagreements are
resolved to the satisfaction of both sides with little inconvenience or formality. In the event of a
fee dispute which is not readily resolved, you have the right to request arbitration under
supervision of the state or district bar associations for the jurisdictions in which we practice, and
we agree to participate fully in that process.
Errors-and-Omissions Insurance
The rules of professional responsibility applicable to attorneys in some states require
that law firms advise clients whether the firms have errors-and-omissions insurance coverage.
Fisher&Phillips of course does have such coverage.
Miscellaneous Matters
We publish a bi-monthly Labor Letter and other, more-narrowly-focused newsletters in
which we cover topical matters relating to employment laws and labor relations. In addition,
when circumstances warrant, we publish a Labor Alert to let our clients know about particularly
time-sensitive issues of importance, These publications are intended to keep our clients
advised about matters which we think will be of interest to them. Of course, due to the
generalized nature of these publications, we cannot undertake to address In them every
pertinent legal development which might be important to a particular client, and the materials
published therein do not constitute legal advice.
We also present seminars periodically. In these seminars, we discuss a broad spectrum
of relevant labor- and employment-law issues. These seminars are provided as a service to our
clients, and you will be invited to them as they are scheduled.
I have read and understoodthe foregoing, and I accept the terms and conditions set
forth herein.
City of Pueblo
+"S
Date Daniel C. Kogovsek
City Attorney, City of Pueblo Law Department
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