Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legal Hiring topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Skokie to pursue hybrid approach in search for next corporation counsel
Summary
The Village of Skokie will pursue parallel tracks to fill its corporation counsel role, considering both an in‑house appointment and hiring a firm to serve as corporation counsel under a hybrid model; a panel will vet candidates and finalists will be interviewed in closed session.
Mayor Anne Tennis and Corporation Counsel Barbara Mangler outlined a process on June 4, 2025, to fill the village’s corporation counsel vacancy and recommended pursuing two parallel tracks: recruit an individual to serve as corporation counsel or select a law firm to serve in a primary counsel role while retaining assistance corporation counsel on staff.
Mangler said the parallel process will use a review panel that includes the village manager, two department directors chosen by the manager, two attorneys from the community and an outside municipal‑law practitioner. The panel will screen resumes, conduct initial interviews of individual applicants and firms, and recommend finalists to the board. Finalist interviews will be conducted in closed session as allowed by the State of Illinois Open Meetings Act.
The mayor and trustees discussed the hybrid model’s prevalence and precedents. Staff materials in the packet compared models used by peer communities and noted Oak Park recently adopted a hybrid model. Trustee Pierce Slobin voiced support for moving forward with the mayor’s recommended approach. The village indicated the goal is to complete the process and have either a new corporation counsel or a firm engaged under a hybrid model no later than the end of calendar year 2025.
No formal vote was recorded at the meeting; the board agreed to proceed with the recommended selection process and a panel will be named to begin evaluations.
