HomeMy Public PortalAbout06) 7C First Amendment to Burke Williams and Sorensen LLP----------~-----
AGENDA
ITEM 7.C
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
MEMORANDUM
DATE: August 4 , 2015
TO: The Honorable City Council
FROM: Bryan Cook, City Manager
By: Tracey Hause, Administrative Services Director
SUBJECT: FIRST AMENDMENT TO LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH BURKE,
WILLIAMS & SORENSEN , LLP
RECOMMENDATION:
The City Council is requested to approve a First Amendment to Lega l Services
Agreement between the City and Burke , Williams & Sorensen , LLP (B urke).
BACKGROUND:
1. On February 2 , 2010 , the C ity and Burke entered into a Legal Services Agreement
whereby t he Ci ty retained Burke to serve as the City Attorney, General Counsel to the
former Redevelopment Age ncy , General Counsel to the Housing Authority, and as
General Cou ns e l for any other entities formed or controlled by the City. The Agreement
provided a monthly retainer for limited basic legal services, other basic legal services
and special legal services and were billed out at the stated hourly rates .
2 . In March of 2011, City Attorney Eric Vail notified the former City Manager by letter as
called for under Section 5 of the Agreement that Burke would be adjusting the monthly
retainer and hourly rates to reflect the increase in the Consumer Price Inde x (CP I) of
3 .2%. The increased rates went into effect on July 1, 2011 .
3. In 2014 , the City created a Legal Services Ad Hoc Committee (Ad Hoc Committee) to
discuss City Attorney costs . The Ad Hoc Committee recommended two changes be
made to the Legal Services Agreement -elimin ation of the notational monthly retainer
for certa in basic legal services , and simplification of the hourly rates for associates on
special se rvic es . These changes were both implemented administratively since they
did not result in increased rates .
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Au g u st 4, 2015
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4 . In Ju ly 2015, t he C ity Manager and Administrative Services Director requested that the
City Attorney prepare a formal Amendment to the Lega l Serv ices Agreement to
incorporate the changes that were made administratively in 20 11 a nd 2014 .
ANALY SI S:
When it was executed in February 201 0, the Lega l Services Agreement between the City and
Burke provided for a monthly retainer in the amount of $6 ,750 to cover attendance at City
Co u ncil , Redevelopment Agency, Housing Authority and Planning Commission meetings,
review of agendas and st aff reports for such meeti ngs, the provisio n of li mited office hours on
days of regular City Co uncil and Planning Commission meetings, and responding to routine
phone calls from the C ity Manager and Counci l members. Time spent on such serv ices was
billed toward the retainer at $225 per hour until the retainer amount was reached . Any basic
legal services in excess of t he retainer amount were also bi ll ed at $225 per ho ur, but were
invoiced separat ely . Special lega l services were b illed at a range of ra t es depending on
experience per the schedule attached to the Lega l Services Agreement.
A lthough the Lega l Services Agreement has been in effect for nearly five and a half years,
Burke has on ly raise d its rates once . Effective Ju ly 1, 2011 , p u rsuant to Section 5 of the
Agreement the month ly retainer and hourly rates were increased by a CPI adjustment. The
CP I increase was 3.2% for the preced i ng year, and the rate i ncreases that went into effect
were generally lower t han the 3.2% i ncrease allowed for unde r t he Agreement. The chart
be low summarizes the increases that took effect July 1, 2011 . Burke has not impleme nte d
another rate increase since then , even though it is allowed under the Agreement.
Orig in al Rate 3 .2% Increase New Rate
Bas ic Services
Retainer $6,750 $6 ,996 $7,000
Hourly $225 $232 .20 $230
Spec ial Services
Partner (21 +years) $275 $283.80 $280
Partner (13-20 years) $255 $263.16 $260
Partner (12 years or less) $235 $242 .52 $240
Associ ate (6+ years) $220 $227.04 $225
Associ ate (5 t h year) $215 $221 .88 $220
Associate (4 t h year) $205 $2 11.56 $210
Associate (3rd year) $195 $201 .24 $2 00
Associate (2 nd year) $185 $190.92 $190
Associate (1st year) $175 $180.60 $180
Para legals/Law Cl e rks $135 $139.32 $140
In 2014, the City c reated an Ad Hoc Co m mittee to re vi e w C ity Attorney costs . T he Ad Hoc
Committee recommended th at two changes be made t o how Ci t y Atto rn ey services were
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Au g ust 4 , 2015
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billed . First, the committee reco mme nd ed e lim ina tin g the monthly retainer. This
recommendation was made because as structu red th e retainer was not a cap on costs and
did not result in any cost sav in gs to the C ity . El iminating the retainer would not increase costs
to the City beca use basic legal services would contin ue to be billed at $230 per hour, but it
would eliminate th e City receiving two separate invoices every month for basic legal services.
Because this cha nge did not increase cos t s to the C ity and essentially j ust all owed th e City
Att orn ey to co nso lidate all c ha rges for basic legal servi ces into one invoice , the committee
did not see a need to amend the Lega l Services Agreemen t t o make this change .
The second recomme ndation from the Ad Hoc Committee was to simplify the rate schedule
for special services provided by associates . Prior to the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee ,
Burke had moved away from classify ing its associates by years of practice . Burke 's
associates are classifi ed as eit her "Associates " or "Senior Associates ", with Senior
Associates being t hose with five or more years of expe ri ence . As such , the decision was
made to align the special services rates for associates to the f irm 's internal structure.
Associates ' time o n specia l legal services would be billed at $215 per hour and Senio r
Associates ' time wo uld be billed at $225 per hour. Beca use these rates were within the range
of associate rates approved in 2011 , it was determined that this change co uld be implemented
administratively.
In th e time that ha s passed si nce th e Ad Hoc Committee's recommendations were
imp lemented, th e Ad mini strative Services Director and City Manager have determined that
they would prefer a form al amendmen t t o the Legal Services Agreement memorializing the
cha nges . T he proposed First Amend ment to the Legal Services Agreement amends the
Agreement to in corpo rate those previous ly approved chan ges only; no new changes are
proposed .
CONCLUSION:
It is recommended that the City Cou ncil approve the First Amendmen t to Legal Services
Agreemen t t o me morialize these c ha ng es.
FISCAL IMPACT :
The First Amendment memorializes rate changes th at were previously approved and
implemented . Sufficient funds are avai lable in the FY 2015-16 C ity Budget.
ATTACHMENT:
A. F irst Amendme nt to Lega l Services Agreement
ATTACHMENT A
FIRST AMENDMENT TO LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
This First Amendment to Legal Services Agreement ("Fir st Amendment"), is ent ered into
on thi s _ day of __ , 2015, by and between the C ITY OF TEMPLE CITY, a California
charter city ( .. City"), a nd BURKE, WILLIAMS & SORENSEN, LLP, a Cali fornia limited
li ab ility partnership ('"B urke"), as follows:
RECITALS
A. City and Burke entered in a Legal S e rvices Agreement on or about February 2, 2010
("Agreement "). T he Agreement provides that Burke will provide city attorney and other
legal servi ces to the City.
B. Effective Jul y 1, 20 11 , a C PI adjustment was made to the rates conta in ed m the
Agreement pursuant to Section 5 of the Agreement.
C. In 2014, the C ity created a legal services ad hoc committee that recommended two
changes to the form a t of the billing under the Agreement that were implemented
administrative ly b y the Interim C ity Manager and City Attorney. The requested changes
were that th e monthl y retainer for bas ic lega l serv ices be eliminated and al l basic legal
se rv ices be billed o ut at the th en existing hourl y rate, and to s implify the rate structure fo r
associates by having one rate for "assoc iates" and one rate for ·'senior associates" ra ther
than rates based on the number of year s each attorney has practiced .
D. This First Amendment revises Exhibit ''A" to the Agreement specifying the rates for
se rv ices to reflect the changes to the rate s tructure that were implemented
administratively in 20 14 and th e CPI adjustment that was made in 20 11.
OPERATIVE PROVISIONS
NOW, T H EREFORE, in co nsideration of the promises made and recited herei n , the
parties do hereby e nt e r into thi s First Amendment w hi c h m odifies and amends the Agreement as
follows:
1. AMENDMENT. Exhibit '·A" to the Agreement is amend e d to read as s hown on Exhibit
"A" to this first amendment.
2. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
2.1 Remainder U nchanged . Except as specifically modified and amended in
thi s First Amendment, the Agreement remain s in full force and effect and binding upon th e
p arti es.
2.2 Integration . T hi s First A m e ndme nt consists of pages 1 thro ugh 4 ,
inclusive, wh ich co n stitute the e ntire understanding and agreement of th e parties and supersedes
all negotiations o r previous agreements between the parties w it h respect to a ll or any part of the
transaction discussed in this First Amendment.
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2.3 Effective Date. This F ir st Amendme nt s hall n ot become effective until
the d ate it has been formally approved by th e C it y Council and executed b y the ap propriate
a uthoriti es of the City and Burke.
2.4 Applicable Law . The laws of t he State of California s ha ll govern the
int erpretation a nd e nfor cement of thi s F irst Amendme nt.
2.5 References . A ll r efer en ces to the Ag reement include a ll th e ir re s pect ive
term s a nd prov is ions. A ll d efined te rm s utili zed in thi s First Amendment have the same meaning
as provided in th e Agreement , unl ess expressly st ated to the cont rar y in thi s F ir st Am e ndment .
IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties he ret o have execut ed t hi s First Amendment to
th e Agreem ent on th e d ate a nd year first writte n above.
C ITY :
THE C ITY OF TEMPLE C ITY
B y :=----=---:---=-:-----;:-;--------
Bryan Cook, C it y Manage r
ATTEST:
Peggy Ku o, City C le rk
B URKE:
B URKE, W ILLIAMS & SOREN SEN, LLP
By: _____________ _
Nam e: ___________ _
Title: ___________ _
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EXHIBIT "A"
Fees fo r Bas ic Lega l Ser v ices:
Basic Services w ill be prov id ed by the C it y A tt o rney, Ass is tant C ity Attorney, or other attorney
of Burke at th e reduc ed rate of $230 pe r h o ur, in inc re m e nt s de fin e d in ection 7 o f the
Agreement and s u bj ect t o p e ri od ic adjustment as provided fo r in Secti on 5 of the Agreement.
T he C it y Attorn ey and Assis tant C ity A tt orney w il l not bi ll fo r trave l ti m e to or fo rm meetings at
C it y H a ll or o th e r Ci t y F aciliti es. O the r Burke a tto rneys wi ll b ill fo r their travel t ime.
Fees fo r Special Se rv ices:
For Specia l Services t o C ity, Agency, A uthorit y a nd R e lat ed E nti t ies, Burke wi ll ch arge the ra tes
id e ntifi ed be low, in in c reme nts defin ed in Secti o n 7 of th e Agre emen t and subj ect to period ic
a dj u s tm e nt as p rovided f o r in Secti on 5 of th e Agreement.
Part n e rs 12 years or less experience-$240 per hour
13 to 20 years -$260 per hour
21 + years -$280 per hour
Assoc ia tes Associates -$215 per ho ur
Senior Associa tes -$225 pe r ho u r
Para legal/Law C le rk s $140 per ho ur
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