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Haverhill legal spending rises as council weighs outside counsel versus in‑house model
Summary
Councilors discussed a marked increase in legal spending tied to outside counsel for labor negotiations and other specialties; staff said many outside bills were driven by heavy labor arbitration and grievance activity and that forming a full in‑house legal team would substantially raise fixed costs.
The city solicitor work and outside counsel costs drew detailed questions from councilors after department staff reported a year of heavy legal activity, including roughly 15–16 union contract negotiations and numerous grievances.
City staff said the proposed legal budget shows a significant increase from prior years driven largely by outside counsel costs and union‑related work. One councilor noted the legal budget rose from around $442,000 to a projection near $500,000 this year, and asked whether the administration expects that level to continue. The…
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