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1. JohnM
   Member

   President Gorman says our new law firm will save us money. I don't get the math.

   Our old firm charged $150 an hour.

   The new firm charges $190 an hour.

   I don't know how many hours a firm bills to the village per year, but based on the budget numbers, my guess is between 1000 and 2000. So if we split the difference and say 1250, this new firm will cost us an extra $50,000 per year in billings.

   I understand that Gorman stated that the new firm doesn't charge for transportation and ancillary expenses, but I'm hard-pressed to believe our previous firm was charging enough to make this change cost-effective.

   If our legal services were sub-standard, I could see the need to change. But Gorman's classless remarks in the paper notwithstanding, I've never heard anything that would lead me to the conclusion that our previous firm was not doing its job.

   What's going on here? We've lost Katy Rush, Laure Kosey and now Dean Krone. Who's next?

   Posted Thursday Feb 18, 2010 11:44 #

2. newriversider
   Member

   After reading the comments in the Landmark I am appalled that Mr. Gorman...an attorney...would utter such slanderous comments towards Mr. Krone. Mr. Gorman should keep a filter on his thoughts/mouth before our town is served with multiple lawsuits. This last act of Mr. Gorman again shows his arrogance,lack of civility and professionalism. How has he been allowed to remove Ms. Rush...Ms. Kosey...and now...Mr. Krone?? Mr. Gorman said that Mr. Krones associates charged more than $150.00 an hour for their fees...I would like proof of that. How can I get Mr. Gorman to cough that information up? Anyone know? I also find it curious that the law firm that was hired has an attorney that is married to one of our commission chairs...interestingly enough a chair that was appointed by Gorman !!! Something has to be done before he single handedly runs this village into the ground.

   Posted Friday Feb 19, 2010 21:47 #

3. spatny
   Member

   If you want documents file a FOIA. You will find the form on the Village website. That way you can see exactly what we paid - in total - for legal services. Open when sitting down.

   FYI - Ms. Rush began looking for a new position prior to the election, and quit when she found a better paying job. Dr. Kosey essentially wrote her position out of the department when it could not be self-sustaining. As to attorneys, it isn't the hourly rate, it's how many hours and what you pay in total, and what you get for what you pay. If you want cheap you buy at Walmart and send jobs to China. That's the kind of thinkng that has brought this country so low. The lowest sticker price isn't always the best value. I think you will see a substantial reduction in the amount we spend for legal services this year. But you will have to wait and see.

   Posted Friday Feb 19, 2010 22:24 #

4. newriversider
   Member

   Thanks ...I will file a FOIA...but it seems logical that a new attorney coming in will have to spend many billable hours getting "up to snuff" on our issues..whereas an attorney who has been in place for 9 years already knows our nuances. I hope you are right Mr. Spatny..and only time will tell...but my suspicion is it will cost us a lot more than we were paying. I won't rehash the Katy Rush thing but only will say that she was a smart women who saw the writing on the wall. As for Ms. Kosey, would you want to work with someone who is so disrespectful to women?....I know I wouldn't. I only hope that Mr. Krone does not bring a lawsuit against this village for slanderous remarks made against his work product. If he does...and secretly I hope he does because maybe then it will place the filter that Gorman so desperately needs...I hope that Mr. Gorman has proof that can back his comments.

   Posted Saturday Feb 20, 2010 09:21 #

5. newriversider
   Member

   "The lowest sticker price isn't always the best value". Remember that next time we need new soccer goals or a paved driveway or new vehicles for the police/fire department.

   Posted Saturday Feb 20, 2010 09:24 #

6. JohnM
   Member

   CuriousRiversider--you said that Gorman said that Mr. Krone"s associates charged more than $150.00 an hour for their fees.

   I don't think that's what he said, which to my mind, makes this even more interesting. Here's the quote from the Landmark:

   Krone's fee was $150 per hour, but Scalera said that other attorneys in Krone's firm charged different rates if the village needed expertise outside of Krone's areas of practice. Gorman, in a separate interview, said that despite the higher hourly rate, the village would end up spending less on legal services.

   Scalera did not say that other attorneys in Krone's firm charged more, he said that they charged different rates. Since Gorman's a lawyer, and Scalera's a smart guy, I wonder at this choice of words--it seems intentional. I would hazard a guess that the Village has rarely--if ever--paid a member or associate of Krone's firm more than $150 an hour. My guess is that we've paid them less. But, we won't know until it get's FOIA'd. Maybe I'll take Don's advice as well.

   It would have been nice if Gorman gave some numbers or facts to back up his claims that despite the higher hourly rate, the village would end up spending less on legal services. But he didn't--no facts, no figures, no nothing--just a vague reference to travel costs and ancillary expenses, and a nasty parting shot at Dean as he exited.

   Good point about the soccer goals/driveway/vehicles. Any thoughts on this, Don? Or is it ok to go cheap on public safety and infrastructure?

   Posted Saturday Feb 20, 2010 11:15 #

7. spatny
   Member

   My thoughts are that Ms.Rush was shopping for a new gig PRIOR to the election. That instead of buying a new backstop for about $3K for thr big ball park ours was repaired for very little - and serves perfectly well. I haven't seen any soccer goals or games in the Swan Pond, have you? And what problem has occurred with the driveway? I mean, it works, right? The trucks go in and out? More hot air. There are always things it would be nice to have if extra cash was laying around, but it isn't.

   I think Kevin Wachtel had a figure for legal services in he finance report that was north of $250K, but that may be many attorneys and faulty remembrance on my part. Probably they have a gross figure for payment to a specific vendor or for a single source service, which you can get quickly. My thoughts are that you guys need to get some new idols.

   In general, I think these people left because they saw that they had a better chance of getting more in a bigger pond. This place will never work or trend that way until another source of revenue - something to augment real estate taxes - can be added. I think we need an attraction here to bring people in who go to the Zoo. That's 2.2 million visitors a year. 5% would be 100K - close to 300 a day aerage. That's what I'm working on - creating that draw. If you had that amount of flow businesses might be able to make a profit here. Then you'll complain about too much traffic. And so it goes.

   Times are tough, and the commercial realestate bubble I spoke about 18 months ago is starting to hit. The owner of Oak Brook Center, Northbrook Court and Water Tower Place went belly-up and was sold. They don't have Dollar Stores in those places. We will need to conserve everything we can to get through to the point where things can start getting better. So remember that those FOIA requests cost money too. And have a nice day!

   Posted Saturday Feb 20, 2010 12:02 #

8. ChrisHajer
   Member

   There were three articles in Crain's this week about the new "law firm reality".

   Seeking efficiency and predictability, legal clients scrutinize bills:
   http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?articleId=33036

   I don't think we're doing anything unique here in scrutinizing the costs. Pete Scalera and President Gorman are both smart guys and I don't think they made this decision thinking it was going to cost us more.

   And JohnM, we're reading this part of Pete Scalera's comments differently:

   but Scalera said that other attorneys in Krone's firm charged different rates if the village needed expertise outside of Krone's areas of practice.

   Since we're talking about expertise, I suspect we paid $150/hr for Krone's services, and anything outside his expertise was more (would you ever expect to pay less for an expert?) I seem to recall talk of the village paying for experts when it was needed, rather than having them on staff. Maybe not related to legal issues.

   Strange choice of words maybe but my guess is that we never paid less than $150. I hope the FOIA sheds light on the subject.

   Posted Saturday Feb 20, 2010 12:51 #

9. JohnM
   Member

   Per the VIllage web site, here are the monthly bills for the Hodges firm (Krone's firm) for 4 months in 2009 (I rounded to the nearest dollar and hour when doing these calculations):

   Nov: 10,627
   Oct: 11,785
   Sept: 8,711
   August: 15,026

   Total: $46,149.

   Let's subtract a generous $2,000 for travel and ancillary expenses. Our total now is $44,149. Divide this by $150 per hour and we get 294 hours (rounded off).

   If a firm charging $190 per hour bills 294 hours, the total is $55,860.

   Maybe Don's right, and this new firm is more efficient, more effective and will bill less hours. However, they'll need to bill a lot less--more than 15% less--to save the Village money. I'll bet this won't happen.

   And, Don, good point about FOIA requests. How much has the Village spent responding to yours over the last few years?

   Posted Saturday Feb 20, 2010 12:54 #

10. JohnM
    Member

    Chris,

    I don't know. If he meant "more" why didn't he say "more." Also, "expertise" in this context does not necessarily mean more money--just means that the different attorneys specialize in one area. Maybe they were charging a lot more whenever we went to someone other than Krone, but there's no evidence that points to this. If there was, I would have thought that Gorman or Scalera would have presented it as reason for changing firms.

    Posted Saturday Feb 20, 2010 13:10 #

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