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Legal Services Report <br />June 23, 2003 <br />Page 3 <br /> <br />After the Kennedy & Graven interview, we talked about Mr. Riggs’ comments and <br />explanation regarding timeliness and availability and what we could expect in the future. <br />While I think we all had a better opinion of Kennedy & Graven after the interview, the firm did <br />not receive a number one ranking although it did receive a #2 and #3. It was agreed that <br />Kennedy & Graven has an obvious upper-hand regarding experience with Mounds View and <br />that there would be a significant benefit in retaining the firm for continuity purposes. <br />However one of the objectives for sending out the legal services RFP was to reduce the <br />City’s annual legal fees and the retainer agreement submitted by Kennedy & Graven <br />appears to be no different from what we have had in the past, although the dollar amount of <br />the retainer has not increased which could be viewed as a relative savings. <br /> <br /> <br />Prosecution Services: <br /> <br />Chief Sommer and I reviewed the responses for prosecution services and it is our <br />recommendation to continue with the firm of Hughes and Costello under the terms they <br />propose. No responding firm proposed a retainer amount less than that of Hughes & <br />Costello and no firm had any significant prosecution experience in Ramsey County. <br /> <br /> <br />Recommendation <br /> <br />1. As for the firms proposing to provide City attorney services, staff recommends that the <br />City Council invite the two top scoring firms—Kelly & Fawcett and Barna Guzy-- back for <br />a follow-up interview with the Council at the July 7, 2003 worksession meeting. If the <br />Council is interested in hearing more from Kennedy & Graven, rather than invite that firm <br />back for additional comment at the worksession, perhaps a general discussion at the <br />June 23rd meeting would be in order. <br /> <br />2. Regarding prosecution firms, staff recommends that we continue to retain the services of <br />Hughes and Costello through December of 2005 at a proposed monthly rate of $3,875 <br />through 2004 and $4,000 through 2005. (Staff will inquire about the possibility of a rate <br />reduction if the number of Administrative Offenses issued lessens the number of cases <br />handled by the firm.) <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />__________________________________ <br />Jim Ericson, Interim City Administrator <br /> <br /> <br />\\Ntserver\MasterFiles\2003\City Council\Council Packets\06-23-03\Item 09K - Attorney RFPs.doc <br />