Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Finance Visa Mastercard Settlement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Leawood approves retention of law firm to file claim in Visa/Mastercard settlement; council directs staff to seek lower contingency
Summary
The council approved retaining Myers Longhofer to file a claim in the Visa/Mastercard class-action settlement, authorized the mayor or city administrator to sign required documents and directed staff to negotiate a more favorable contingency-fee agreement before final engagement.
The Leawood governing body adopted a resolution authorizing the city to retain Myers Longhofer to file a claim in a nationwide Visa/Mastercard class-action settlement and authorized the mayor or city administrator to execute documents, while directing staff to negotiate a lower contingency fee.
Patty Bennett, the city attorney, summarized the settlement and the immediate need: the court-approved settlement covers alleged interchange-fee issues between Feb. 2005 and Feb. 2019 and is valued at about $5.6 billion; claims must be filed by midnight tomorrow. Bennett said the Myers Longhofer firm proposed a 25% contingent fee and would assist with follow-up work if the settlement administratorreturns an estimate that requires more verification from the city's processors.
Councilmembers voiced concern about the 25% contingency. Councilmember Larson (first name not specified in the record) said she believed 25% was high for a matter that may be procedurally straightforward; others urged staff to negotiate a fee structure that scales by complexity. Mayor Mark Elkins disclosed that Jim Myers, the lead lawyer, was a former associate of his decades earlier but said he had no recent professional relationship.
City staff and the council agreed on a fallback: staff should try to negotiate a more favorable fee structure with the firm; if negotiations fail, staff may file the initial claim without counsel and, if further work is required later, the city can engage legal counsel at that time. The governing body approved the resolution and the negotiating directive by voice vote; the record shows unanimous approval by members present.
Bennett said the initial claim form due by the deadline does not, by itself, require deep historic record searches; if the settlement administrator's computation appears incorrect, the matter would require more detailed work and the law firm would assist to identify past processors and records.
