City attorney proposes $850,000 lump-sum agreement after post-hurricane billing surge; commissioners ask for contract clarity

City Attorney Nevin Zimmerman presented a proposed lump-sum billing model to the Panama City Commission during a July virtual workshop, offering an $850,000 annual fee to cover core legal services and to reduce uncertainty after several years of elevated hourly billing.

Zimmerman told commissioners the firm moved to mostly hourly billing in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Michael because recovery work and special projects dramatically increased legal time and outside specialties. He said firm billings peaked in the 2022 fiscal year at roughly $1.8 million and were about $1.5 million in 2023–24; the city attorney’s office projects about $1.2 million this year. “We proposed a, we would be coming to you with a lump sum fee of $850,000,” Zimmerman said, noting that figure is discounted from historical totals and would include core services with some carve-outs for extraordinary special projects.

Zimmerman, who said he began representing the city in 2013 under a prior arrangement that mixed a lump-sum retainer with hourly charges for extraordinary matters, told the commission that a flat fee provides…