Committee recommends transfer of general legal services to Stafford Rosenbaum LLP

The General Government and Finance Committee voted to recommend that the Village Board transfer the village’s general legal services engagement to Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, a larger law firm where the village’s municipal attorney will continue practicing.

Nut graf: Staff said the move will provide the village broader legal expertise and capacity while maintaining competitive rates. The attorney cited continuity reasons—his current partner is aging and the larger firm offers additional subject-matter expertise in areas such as construction, labor and environmental law.

Details: Staff described firm size, practice breadth and an internal “government team.” The attorney said the firm’s partner and associate hourly rates are in line with the market and noted typical partner rates around $245/hour, associates around $215/hour and paralegals around $155/hour for general municipal work; more specialized work such as development agreements may be billed at higher partner rates (staff cited approximately $320/hour as a specialist partner rate). The contract includes an annual renewal structure with a 90-day termination provision.

Staff also described a firm or administrative procedure to control spending: certain non-department-head contacts for legal work require prior authorization by the president or the administrator, while department heads may contact the village attorney directly under the agreement.

Discussion vs. decision: Committee members asked about reasons for the change, rates, contract duration and whether the code-of-ethics forms would be re-signed. The committee approved forwarding the contract to the Village Board with a positive recommendation.

Ending: The contract will go to the Village Board for final approval; if approved, the village will execute a transfer of its general legal services engagement to Stafford Rosenbaum LLP.