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East Lansing selects Rosati Schultz for municipal law, names Keller Toma labor counsel and keeps Giarmarco on pending cases
Summary
After interviews, the council directed staff to negotiate a contract with Rosati Schultz Jopich & Amrspuechler for general municipal law and prosecution services and to select Keller Toma for labor and employment law. The council also voted to retain Giamarco for ongoing circuit-court litigation in which that firm has already entered appearances.
East Lansing — The City Council on Tuesday moved to change its outside legal representation after a formal request-for-proposals process.
Two separate council resolutions directed staff to negotiate contracts for city legal services: - General municipal law and prosecution services: Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate a contract with Rosati Schultz Jopich & Amp; Amst Buchler (the “Rosati firm”) for general municipal law and prosecution services, to be returned to council for consideration. That motion passed on a split vote. - Labor and employment law: Council authorized negotiation with Keller Toma (Keller Toma law firm) to provide labor and employment counsel for the city; the council approved moving forward to negotiate that contract.
In addition, the council voted to continue the city’s current litigation counsel, Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton (GiaMarco), on pending circuit-court matters in which that firm has already filed appearances. Council members said the retention on existing litigation avoids a midstream change of counsel on active cases while the city transitions to new general-counsel arrangements.
Why the change: The city issued an RFP on Feb. 20, 2025, and interviewed several finalists on April 23. Council members said they were impressed by multiple firms. Supporters of the Rosati selection stressed the firm’s deep municipal bench, experience in court and a commitment to hold hourly rates constant under a multiyear agreement. Opponents favored continuing the lower hourly rates and institutional knowledge of Giarmarco.
Council discussion highlighted three main themes: rate levels, municipal expertise and potential conflicts of interest. Councilmember Meadows said he favored Rosati because of its municipal specialization and argued that a more experienced municipal bench could be less costly overall. Councilmember Watson said she would not support Rosati and noted concerns about prosecution responsibilities and other answers from interviews. Several councilmembers emphasized the importance of explicitly setting the scope of services in the negotiated contract.
Vote and transition: The council voted to negotiate with Rosati Schultz for general municipal law on a 3–2 vote (Altman, Meadows and Singh in favor; Watson and Mayor Brookover opposed). The council unanimously authorized negotiating labor/employment representation with Keller Toma. On a separate motion, the council agreed to keep Giarmarco on pending circuit-court litigation in which it has already entered appearances.
Speakers and process: City Manager Robert Bellman described the RFP process and identified the responding firms and interview schedule. Council heard from multiple members about the need for timely, responsive advice and for a firm that could provide a broad municipal practice bench given recent demand on staff and outside counsel.
What’s next: Staff will negotiate contracts with the selected firms and return draft agreements to council for formal approval.
