Preaching to the choir
Talking about saving money and saving face, did you notice the funny "correction" in tonight's newspaper about the city's operational study and the city attorney's office.
Sounds like city attorney Tim Laitur is circling the wagons.
The correction said excuse us, the study didn't say the city attorney should be lopped. It said the city should evaluate the potential cost savings of lopping the city attorney. That's an important distinction -- if you're planning to file a lawsuit after your job gets lopped.
I was lucky enough to catch part of Tim's appeal to the city council on TV Monday. If you missed it, he said something like jobbing out the city attorney's office wouldn't work. He told a rambling story about getting a speeding ticket up north and how he couldn't get ahold of the town's city attorney to talk mano-a-mano.
During the course of his plea to city council, Tim says something like anytime you have a contract with a law firm -- if you outsource the work instead of having it done by a staff attorney -- you'll pay through the nose.
That was sort of like preaching to the choir. The city council knows that all too well, since we have two city attorneys -- an in-house one and an out-house one -- the contracted firm of Ready Sullivan & Ready (or whoever might happen to be the favorite of any sitting administration).
Haven't there also been times when Laitur has pitch-hit on the dais?
Can we really afford to cut checks to two lawyers?
Come to think of it, when the going gets rough (I'm thinking of ADA lawsuits here) the city hasn't seemed to hesitate to hire a third law firm.
What gives?
Sounds like city attorney Tim Laitur is circling the wagons.
The correction said excuse us, the study didn't say the city attorney should be lopped. It said the city should evaluate the potential cost savings of lopping the city attorney. That's an important distinction -- if you're planning to file a lawsuit after your job gets lopped.
I was lucky enough to catch part of Tim's appeal to the city council on TV Monday. If you missed it, he said something like jobbing out the city attorney's office wouldn't work. He told a rambling story about getting a speeding ticket up north and how he couldn't get ahold of the town's city attorney to talk mano-a-mano.
During the course of his plea to city council, Tim says something like anytime you have a contract with a law firm -- if you outsource the work instead of having it done by a staff attorney -- you'll pay through the nose.
That was sort of like preaching to the choir. The city council knows that all too well, since we have two city attorneys -- an in-house one and an out-house one -- the contracted firm of Ready Sullivan & Ready (or whoever might happen to be the favorite of any sitting administration).
Haven't there also been times when Laitur has pitch-hit on the dais?
Can we really afford to cut checks to two lawyers?
Come to think of it, when the going gets rough (I'm thinking of ADA lawsuits here) the city hasn't seemed to hesitate to hire a third law firm.
What gives?
posted by The Observer at 8/16/2007 08:57:00 AM
2 Comments:
Dear Observer,
I actually think Tim’s point is correct. He does a lot of routine work in court and is pay I believe is at or less than the new public defender level of $75.00 an hour as I recall. In 68 years on this planet I have never been involved in a criminal complaint until the Compora stalking issue over photos on my web site. When she approached the Judge several times starting right after the last election he said he could not issue a PPO unless she was directly threatened in some way.
She concocted three incidents of my yelling at her in city hall outside the council chambers and named councilpersons Paisley, Martin, and Beneteau as her witnesses.
I had to work out of state under contract and could not defend myself. Therefore, I had to hire an attorney experienced in criminal matters at $175.00 an hour. My preference of attorney would be Tom Ready who could not become involved.
Compora was not permitted to read from a script as she appears to do in council meetings and had to answer some very import questions about her claims and prior complaints about the web site from memory. As an aside, let me just state the proceedings transcripts is on my web site and she did not prevail.
I had the option to continue the matter to recover costs, actual, and other damages but I doubted that she was collectable. My costs were nearly $2,700.00.
The purpose of the recitation is to point out that litigation is expensive. Depending what I am doing I must charge enough to cover expenses and make a decent profit. I could not afford to run an office and do what I do for what Tim is paid. Yes in expert witness work is something most decent people dislike, but someone must do it. Sometimes machine builders are drawn into horrible injury accidents through no fault of their machine design or performance.
A Jury looks at a 36 year woman missing a leg at the hip and wants to blame the die builder because she handled it carelessly. A bilateral hand amputation is nasty but not the failure caused by the machine or its controls. Indeed it was the fault of the employer who jury rigged the machine and failed to even carry industrial compensation insurance. The list goes on…
So Observer, I appreciate the opportunity to carry on a decent dialog with thinking persons with the rancor and malice filtered out. I doubt that the involvement of our fire Marshall in pension management will bother people. If voters feel that Compora is the correct choice, that is how they will vote. I dislike her for her anti industry stance and anti business activism.
I wonder what she thinks of the heavy track hoe with a magnet at work at the scrap yard on Dixie. It may only weigh 20 tons and not be heavy equipment at all.
The election would seem better in the Monroe Evening News would quit pandering to scandal and endorsing candidates. Sure they can put Elvis on the front page but we never hear about a decent performer like Ted Nugent probably because of his pro firearms and hunting stance.
Dear Observer,
Please let me try to address your questions with more objectivity. Tim Laitur is good at what he does. He is someone to handle the many civil infractions staff has to field and act on. Here he is their resource. He has steady employment but does not make a large wage. He is not well suited for fielding questions in council meetings. If something goes wrong, he is handy to blame even if he is not at fault. Tim knows his way around the court house and understands the system and can work within it nicely. To be fair, he has no office expense. I consider him a very good employee.
Tom Ready or someone in his firm is my usual personal attorney. He is very good at thinking an answer through and very careful when answering. His skill level and self assurance is well suited to fielding questions and his research facilities are suited to getting an accurate opinion quickly within his firm or an associate elsewhere. Tom and his firm work for an agreed upon fee as an at will employee.
Tom can recommend and expect approval for an attorney from Wayne County to participate in proceedings involving federal law and constitutional matters such as taking of property without compensation (Scrap Yard), equal protection under the law (Scrap Yard), and handicapped access where an attorney who makes a good living and may not care about the handicapped goes to towns who are not meeting the letter of the law and hence we are in federal court. This attorney must know his way around the Federal Courthouse and have an office within easy walking distance. A lunch with a judge’s secretary or magistrate can help smooth a relationship. If we fail to prevail at this step it is off to the 6th circuit court in Cincinnati.
So Observer, this my take on what is going on and this has been practiced for a long time by many administrations. I would be happy to respond to any questions as to what I think is the best way. Honestly, given the framework in which we blinder and screw up such as the scrap yard denial of use the present arrangement costs the least to deal with the stupidity that goes on.
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