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Trustees debate use of outside counsel after invoices total about $52,700 over 17 months
Summary
Board members raised questions about the board’s use of outside legal counsel and the level of information shared with trustees. Trustee Rebecca Fox said invoices show substantial billing for counsel and asked for greater transparency; others said outside counsel serves a distinct legal role and hourly billing varies.
Trustees spent a substantial portion of Monday night’s meeting debating the board’s use of outside counsel after trustee Rebecca Fox requested a discussion of frequency and cost.
Fox said she and two other trustees followed board procedures to place the item on the agenda but were surprised to find it scheduled as a closed-session item; she said she did not intend to discuss privileged matters but wanted transparency about money the district has paid to outside counsel. "Our ongoing relationship with the external lawyer and the value for the taxpayer money expended thus far," Fox said, summarizing her concern.
Trustees reviewed invoice totals for the outside firm covering the period August 2023 through March 2025. Trustee Don Champagne calculated the invoices totaled about $52,683 for that span — an average of roughly $3,100 per month — and described that average as roughly $100 per day.
Champagne and President Victor Perez both defended retaining outside counsel, saying the in-house general counsel reports to the superintendent and that outside counsel can provide advice directly to the board in situations that might present a conflict of interest or require independent counsel. Perez said at the outset that the board had interviewed and approved the firm and that outside counsel is used for issues that in-house counsel may not be able to address objectively.
Fox said much of the invoiced work appeared to relate to matters she believes in-house counsel could have handled and asked that summaries or privileged briefings be shared with trustees. "For that $52,000, I should know something about something that's said in here," she said, and asked that work product be provided to the entire board under attorney‑client privilege when appropriate.
Other trustees said hourly billing for outside counsel is common and that costs will vary year to year depending on the volume and type of legal work. Trustee comments noted that other district legal expenses in past years have been larger, including a prior, more costly district investigation that several trustees said they opposed.
The board did not vote on any changes to its counsel arrangements. Trustees asked staff to consider whether board operating procedures should be revised to clarify who may request outside counsel and what information should be shared among trustees when the board engages outside legal services.
