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<br /> <br /> STAFF REPORT <br /> <br /> <br />TO: Mayor Fischer and Members of City Council <br /> <br />FROM: Chris Heineman, City Administrator <br /> Laura Linehan, Community Relations Manager <br /> <br />DATE: June 12, 2024 <br /> <br />RE: Request approval to issue a Request for Proposals for Legal Services <br /> <br /> <br />ACTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED: <br />Staff is requesting City Council approval to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Legal <br />Services for Civil Attorney. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: <br />The City of Little Canada has been represented by only two legal firms for much of its history. <br />According to archival records, the city retained the law firm of Sweeny, Borer & Sweeney for <br />both civil and prosecutorial services from 1981 thru the end of 2007. At the end of 2007, the City <br />issued an RFP for legal services and received a total of seven proposals. Of the seven proposals <br />received, three firms proposed both civil and prosecution services, one firm proposed only civil <br />services, and three firms proposed only prosecution services. <br /> <br />Kelly & Lemmons, the city’s current legal services provider, was selected and engaged for both <br />civil and prosecutorial services in January of 2008. According to the minutes from the January <br />9, 2008 meeting, the City was not looking to change legal services because of any service issue <br />and the change was based purely on cost. The initial agreement expired in 2014, and a renewal <br />for services was approved and has remained intact since that time. <br /> <br />Kelly & Lemmons continued to provide civil services for the past 10-years with Patrick Kelly <br />serving as the City Attorney until his retirement in 2022. Since his retirement, Chad Lemmons <br />has represented the City of Little Canada as our City Attorney. Kelly & Lemmons also provides <br />criminal prosecution services to the City of Little Canada and is represented by Martin Norder. <br /> <br />As the City of Little Canada’s legal services contract has not been reviewed since 2014, staff <br />feels it is appropriate to issue a Request for Proposals in order to analyze and compare options <br />for legal services. It is important to note that not all firms that provide municipal legal services <br />provide prosecution services. In order to maintain a level of consistency, staff is recommending <br />that we issue a legal services RFP for civil attorney only at this time. This will enable us to <br />continue to utilize Kelly & Lemmons for prosecutorial services while considering other options <br />for City Attorney. <br /> <br /> <br />