Item 23 - City Attorney Evaluation and Restated Legal Services Agreement

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D-2 increments. Our attorneys are currently billed at rates from $220 to $795 per hour, and our administrativ e assistants, research assistants, municipal analysts, litigation analysts, paralegals, paraprofessionals and law clerks are billed at rates from $150 to $290 per hour for new work. These rates reflect the ranges in both our public and our private rates. These hourly rates are reviewed annually to accommodate rising firm costs and to reflect changes in attorney status as lawyers attain new levels of legal experience. Any increases resulting from such reviews will be instituted automatically and will appl y to each affected client, after advance notice. Non-Attorney Personnel: BBK may employ the services of non-attorney personnel under the supervision of a BBK attorney in order to perform services called for in the legal services agreement. The most common non- attorney personnel utilized are paralegals. Other types of non-attorney personnel include, but are not limited to, case clerks, litigation analysts, and specialty consultants. The client agrees that BBK may use such non-attorney personnel to perform its services when it is reasonably necessary in the judgment of the responsible BBK attorney. Hourly fees for non-attorney personnel will be charged at the rate then in effect for such personnel. A copy of BBK’s current rates and titles for non-attorney personnel will be provided upon request. FEES FOR OTHER SERVICES, COSTS AND EXPENSES We attempt to serve all our clients with the most effective support systems available. Therefore, in addition to fees for professional legal services, we also charge separately for some other services and expenses to the extent of their use by individual clients. These charges include but are not limited to, mileage at the current IRS approved rate per mile, extraordinary telephone and document delivery charges, copying charges, computerized research, court filing fees and other court-related expenditures including court reporter and transcription fees. No separate charge is made for secretarial or word processing services; those costs are included within the above hourly rates. We may need to advance costs and incur expenses on your behalf on an ongoing basis. These items are separate and apart from attorneys’ fees and, as they are out-of-pocket charges, we need to have sufficient funds on hand from you to pay them when due. We will advise the client from time to time when we expect items of significant cost to be incurred, and it is required that the client send us advances to cover those costs before they are due. ADVANCE DEPOSIT TOWARD FEES AND COSTS Because new client matters involve both a substantial undertaking by our firm and the establishment of client credit with our accounting office, we require an advance payment from clients. The amount of this advance deposit is determined on a case-by-case basis discussed first with the client, and is specified in our engagement letter. Upon receipt, the advance deposit will be deposited into the firm’s client trust account. Our monthly billings will reflect such applications of the advance deposit to costs and not to at torney’s fees (unless otherwise noted in our accompanying engagement letter). At the end of engagement, we will apply any remaining balance first to costs and then to fees. We also reserve the right to require increases or renewals of these advanced deposits. By signing the initial engagement letter, each client is agreeing that trust account balances may be withdrawn and applied to costs as they are incurred and to our billings, when we issue our invoice to the client. If we succeed in resolving your matter before the amounts deposited are used, any balance will be promptly refunded. MONTHLY INVOICES AND PAYMENT Best Best & Krieger LLP provides our clients with monthly invoices for legal services performed and expenses incurred. Invoices are due and payable upon receipt. Each monthly invoice reflects both professional and other fees for services rendered through the end of the prior month, as well as expenses incurred on the client’s behalf that have been processed by the end of the prior month. Processing of some expenses is delayed until the next month and billed thereafter.