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Home My Public Portal AboutGardner,Bist,Bowden....Engagement to RepresentGardner, Bist, Bowden, Bush, Dee, LaVia & Wright, P.A. Michael P. Bist 1300 Thomaswood Drive Charles R. Gardner Garvin B. Bowden" Tallahassee, Florida 32308 John T. LaVia, III Benjamin B. Bush Robert Scheffel `Schein Wright David S. Dee www.gbwlegal.com "Board Certified Real Estate Lawyer Telephone Facsimile 850-385-0070 850-385-5416 July 14, 2020 Gregory L. Dunham Town Manager Town of Gulf Stream 100 Sea Road Gulf Stream, Florida 33483 Re: Engagement to Represent the Town of Gulf Stream Dear Mr. Dunham: Based on my earlier correspondence and telephone conversations with Trey Nazzaro, this letter will confirm the engagement to provide legal services between the Town of Gulf Stream ("Town" or "Gulf Stream") and my law firm, Gardner, Bist, Bowden, Bush, Dee, LaVia & Wright, P.A. ("Firm") to represent the Town in connection with a dispute and related litigation regarding performance of certain contractual obligations and payments for underground conversion work to be provided to the Town by BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC d/b/a AT&T Southeast ("AT&T"). On behalf of the Firm, I am sending you this engagement letter, which describes the general principles, terms, and conditions that will govern our work for the Town. Qualifications and Case Management As I have discussed with Mr. Nazzaro and also with Joanne O'Connor, who represents the Town in this matter, and subject to the Town's approval, this engagement will initially involve our representing the Town in connection with litigation in the U.S. 1 District Court for the Southern District of Florida and also providing general legal and regulatory advice and consultation regarding issues that arise in utility undergrounding contracts. At this time, it appears likely that this matter would be the only matter with respect to which we would represent the Town, but we do have extensive experience and expertise in real estate, commercial litigation, administrative, and environmental law as well as my specific expertise in utility regulatory matters, and we would be happy to assist the Town of Gulf Stream on other matters as you might desire. Within the Firm, I will have primary responsibility for this representation. During the course of the representation, we will expect to receive direction primarily from you, from Mr. Nazzaro, and from Ms. O'Connor, and from any other Gulf Stream personnel designated by you. Fees and Billing Practices We nonnally charge our clients an hourly rate for our legal services. My discounted billing rate for public sector/government clients is $250 per hour. Another senior partner within our Firm, John T. "Jay" LaVia, III, frequently assists me with PSC matters, and it is likely that I would involve him to a limited degree on this matter — e.g., reviewing drafts of correspondence or additional pleadings. Jay's rate would be the same as mine. Otherwise, I will not involve other attorneys without advance approval from the Town. These rates will not be increased before January 1, 2022. We are sensitive to the cost of legal services and we understand that every client wishes to avoid unnecessary expenses. Accordingly, we will use our best efforts to ensure that our work for the Town is performed as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. When it is appropriate, we will assign tasks to attorneys, paralegals, or clerks with lower billing rates so that we can maximize our cost effectiveness. No retainer is required for this representation. We will provide the Town with itemized monthly invoices for our legal services. The invoice will identify each task performed, the person who performed the task, and the amount of our fees for the tasks performed by each person on each date. The Firm's invoices will also identify any out-of- pocket costs or expenses for which we are requesting reimbursement; we do not apply any form of mark-up to such cost advances. Typical out-of-pocket costs and expenses include: photocopying costs; telecopying costs; all reasonable travel expenses (e.g., coach class for domestic airline flights; mileage reimbursements at the then -current rate authorized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for the use of private automobiles or the rate authorized by Florida Statutes, whichever is less); express courier service (e.., Federal Express or UPS) charges; extraordinary postage expenses (e.g., Express Mail or postage expenses for a 2 large -volume mailing); computer research charges; court reporting fees; filing fees; and recording costs. We do not charge for ordinary long-distance telephone calls, but we do expect reimbursement of costs incurred for conference calls. In the event unusually large costs or expenses are anticipated, we may require an advance deposit to cover such expenditures or ask the Town to pay for such items directly. To the extent necessary, we will assist the Town in identifying and recruiting expert witnesses and consultants, but we will expect the Town to pay the experts and consultants directly for their services. We recognize that the Town may have other specific limitations on reimbursements for costs and out-of-pocket expenditures. We will comply with any reasonable limitations imposed by the Town, but we ask that such limitations be identified now, thus avoiding confusion and billing issues later. (At this time, it appears that any out-of-pocket costs for this matter would be nominal.) Our invoices are payable upon receipt. If our invoices are not paid within thirty (30) days after they are delivered to the Town, we reserve our right to terminate our services at any time. We also reserve our right to collect interest on any unpaid invoice at the rate of one percent (1.0%) per month. Conflicts of Interest We are not aware of any conflicts of interest with our existing clients that would arise in connection with addressing the dispute between the Town and AT&T. Commencement of Representation We hope that our proposal is acceptable to the Town of Gulf Stream. If so, I propose that our engagement with respect to this matter will be recognized as having commenced on June 13, 2020, which is when I first devoted substantive attention to the Town's complaint against AT&T. Please sign in the space indicated below and return a copy of this engagement letter to me. My signature below confirms the Firm's agreement to the engagement on the terms set forth above. 3 Thank you again for the opportunity to be of service. I look forward to working with you and the Gulf Stream team. Please feel free to call me any time if you have any questions. We look forward to a pleasant and successful relationship with you and the Town's team. Cordially yours, GARDNER, BIST, BOWDEN, BUSH, DEE, LAVIA & WRIGHT, P.A. -;Z4�LQt� Robert ` - j For the Firm Accepted and agreed to this �S day of July, 2020. TOWN OF GULF STREAM, FLORIDA By: zk--7A,1,4 rego . Dunham, Town Manager 4