City law department defends outside-counsel spending, seeks to limit future use by building internal capacity

City Attorney Patrice Perkins and her deputies presented the Law Department's FY26 budget to Atlanta City Council, saying the department has absorbed unexpected litigation costs in FY25 and plans to reduce future reliance on outside counsel by building internal capacity where feasible.

Perkins told council, "I have the honor to be the city attorney for Atlanta and I, oversee the operations of 85 individuals, who practice law on behalf of the city of Atlanta." She described recent high-cost litigation (public safety training center challenges, environmental litigation around RM Clayton and South River, and a federal consent order matter) as drivers of FY25 legal spending.

The nut graf: Perkins and litigation deputies defended a continuing need for outside counsel for specialized, document-intensive matters while saying the department is intentionally shifting routine work in-house to reduce future contracted-service spend; council members probed reasons for year-to-year swings in purchase-of-service lines and asked about claims administration and staffing.

Numbers and drivers: Perkins said the proposed FY26 general-fund budget for Law reflects an overall increase, driven chiefly by contracted services where litigation and specialty expertise (environmental law, aviation law, complex employment and 1983 civil-rights defense) have historically required outside firms. Deputy Tory Smith explained the department pays outside counsel rates that range roughly from $350 to $700 per hour depending on specialty and matter complexity and that large environmental, nuisance and civil-rights matters account for most outside spend.

Perkins outlined steps to reduce outside counsel reliance: hiring and training more in-house attorneys for routine litigation, closely scrutinizing outside invoices, and pursuing joint-venture relationships to diversify and manage costs. She said a comparison to similar jurisdictions suggested a much larger in-house staff (on the order of 100 attorneys) would be required for fully in-house coverage for a city the size of Atlanta; she framed that as a planning reference rather than a current request.

Claims handling and backlog: Council President and staff asked about claims intake and processing. Perkins said the department had addressed a backlog that existed when she arrived and had expanded workforce capacity in the claims unit (claims adjusters and temporary support) so the backlog has been substantially reduced. She said claims processing is now being handled more promptly and that positions were created or filled to sustain that improvement.

Council questions focused on how to size the contracted-services budget, whether FY25 adopted reductions were realistic, and how the department decides when to use outside counsel. Perkins said selection is driven by subject-matter need, case complexity and workload distribution across in-house attorneys; deputy Tory Smith added the department attempts to move routine matters in-house while reserving outside counsel for specialized, high-volume or resource-intensive cases.

Ending: Council members expressed appreciation for the department's work defending the city and urged continued efforts to reduce outside-counsel expense where possible. Perkins said the administration supported salary adjustments and other steps to retain talent and reduce future contracted-services demand, and the department will continue to provide monthly reports on outside counsel engagements to council.