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Saturday, December 29, 2007
Ind. Gov't. - "Four lawyers will do city work for Jeffersonville"
Ben Zion Hershberg reports today in the Louisville Courier Journal:
In an effort to control the city's legal costs, Jeffersonville Mayor-elect Tom Galligan is appointing four lawyers to handle municipal business rather than rely primarily on the services of one city attorney."They will work as a team," Galligan said of his plans for the city's law department. Each lawyer will work from five to 15 hours a month on city business, he said. * * *
He said he hopes the new structure will save the city money. There have been high costs recently for what is supposed to be a part-time job. The city attorney also maintains a private practice.This year, for example, the city law department spent more than $90,000 for lawyers, including city attorney Les Merkley, who has a $45,000-a-year base salary. The city also has paid $32,000 for the law department's paralegal.
The four lawyers who will make up the new law department will be paid $100 per hour. They're expected to provide their own secretaries and offices. * * *
If one of the lawyers needs extra hours for city work, he must get approval from a three-member litigation committee to be appointed by Galligan. If all of a lawyer's hours aren't used in a month, the unused time will be added to what's available the next month.
Galligan said the lawyers' work will be coordinated in periodic meetings he will have with them.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 29, 2007 11:13 AM
Posted to Indiana Government