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East Providence School Committee hires Haines Carroll Lombardo LLC after three firm interviews
Summary
After interviewing three law firms on experience, fees and meeting attendance, the East Providence School Committee voted 3–2 to appoint Haines Carroll Lombardo LLC as the district ttorney of record. Committee members debated costs, construction experience and multilingual-learner expertise before the vote.
The East Providence School Committee voted to retain Haines Carroll Lombardo LLC as its legal services provider after interviews with three candidates and a sometimes sharp discussion about fees, experience and responsiveness.
At a public meeting where Barton Gilman LLP and the district—s current counsel also interviewed, Andrew Henness, Aubrey Lombardo and Deidre Carreno presented Haines Carroll Lombardo—s team and said Andrew would be the district—s primary contact. "We bill $200 an hour," Henness said when asked about fees, adding the firm offers a meeting attendance flat fee that would cap charges for long sessions.
Barton Gilman—s presenters—Steve Adams, Tim Groves and Stephanie Gonzales—emphasized a regional litigation background and a blended-fee proposal. "We put a blended $230 an hour," Adams said during the firm—s presentation. Barton Gilman highlighted Title IX and special-education work and noted a practice that spans multiple New England jurisdictions.
The committee—s incumbent counsel described a long-running relationship with East Providence, policy work already completed for the district and a base proposal the firm said was $215/hour for general matters, with higher rates for litigation and arbitration.
Committee members pressed each firm on several topics: who would serve as lead counsel, how litigation would be staffed, construction contract experience, professional-development offerings, how legal fees would be billed and whether attorneys would regularly attend school committee or subcommittee meetings. Members also discussed the firms— differing approaches to policy development and how cost-sharing of template policies might lower per-district costs.
Several members urged more frequent billing transparency and suggested monthly itemized invoices should go to the chair or the whole committee. One member asked whether legal attendance at meetings would be billed hourly or covered by a capped flat fee; firms offered a mix of hourly billing, flat fees and hybrid arrangements.
After deliberations, a motion to keep the incumbent counsel failed. A subsequent motion to hire Haines Carroll Lombardo LLC was moved and seconded; the voice vote was recorded as 3 ayes and 2 nays, and the committee approved the appointment. The committee then adjourned. "The appointment of legal services is given to Haines Carroll Lombardo LLC," the chair announced following the vote.
What happens next: the committee will follow its usual contracting process to finalize terms and any flat-fee arrangements. The firms described a range of options (hourly, partial-flat and fully flat fees) the district can still negotiate. The committee also discussed asking its chosen counsel to provide quarterly written case-status reports to improve transparency.
Votes at a glance - Appointed: Haines Carroll Lombardo LLC; outcome: approved; recorded vote: 3 yes, 2 no; mover: not specified in the public record; second: not specified in the public record.
Sources: Public presentations and Q&A recorded during the East Providence School Committee meeting (firm presentations, billing proposals and committee discussion).
