Orange City council ranks Vos Law Firm first after city-attorney interviews

Orange City’s council on July 15 ranked the Vos Law Firm first among three finalists for the city attorney role and directed staff to enter negotiations with the top-ranked firm and return a proposed contract for council approval.

The decision came after the council conducted separate interviews with three law firms — DSK Law, Fishback Dominic, and Vos Law Firm — following a request-for-proposals process. The council held the interviews in public and then deliberated and voted on a ranked list of firms. The motion to confirm the ranking passed on a roll-call vote with all members voting yes.

The interviews focused on each firm’s municipal experience, availability, proposed fee structure and conflict-of-interest safeguards. Becky Vos, founding partner of the Vos Law Firm, emphasized a fixed monthly retainer in her presentation: “We would charge one retainer fee of $24,000 per month,” she told the council, adding that her firm’s flat-fee proposal would include litigation services. That full flat-fee approach — including litigation — was a distinguishing feature of the Vos proposal and a reason several council members cited for support.

By contrast, Deborah Mitchell, representing…