HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 03.d
City of Lakeville
Administration Department
Memorandum
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Allyn Kuennen, Assistant City Administrator
Copy: Justin Miller, City Administrator
Date: June 27, 2016
Agenda Item: Review of Legal Service Proposals.
In 2015 the City Council established a schedule for seeking updated proposals for various
contracting services throughout the City. One of the services scheduled for review in 2016
was the city’s legal services.
City Council reviewed the draft RFP to obtain proposals for legal services at the February
work session and directed staff to advertise the RFP to obtain proposals for civil and
prosecution services. The Council also asked the Personnel Committee to review the
proposals, interview the finalist and make a recommendation back to the City Council.
A total of five proposals for civil services and seven proposals for prosecution services were
submitted from various firms. The Personnel Committee reviewed the proposals and
selected three firms to interview for civil proposals and directed staff to interview four firms
for prosecution services.
Staff from the Police, Inspections, and Administration departments interviewed Campbell
Knutson, Eckberg Lammers, Gregerson Rosow, and Leach law firms for prosecution
services. After considering the proposals and the responses during the interview, staff is
recommending Campbell Knutson for prosecution services, contingent on office hours at the
Police Department being included in their service contract.
The Personnel Committee interviewed Campbell Knutson, Eckberg Lammers and Ratwik
Roszak Maloney law firms for civil attorney services. After considering the responses from
the interview questions, the Personnel Committee refined the list down to Campbell
Knutson and Eckberg Lammers as the two final firms. Additional questions were sent to
each of these firms to further evaluate their proposed services. After reviewing their
responses to the questions, the Personnel Committee is recommending that Campbell
Knutson be retained for the city’s civil attorney services. Campbell Knutson, in their
response to the questions, has identified a plan to transition the primary attorney
responsibilities from Roger Knutson to Andrea Poehler, an attorney in the f irm that is very
familiar with Lakeville, staff and the city’s operations. This transition will take place over the
coming months and can be evaluated by the City Council at a timeline of their choosing.
The Personnel Committee and staff will be available at the June 27th work session to
discuss the interview process and their recommendations.