9.b) Legal Services Agreement - Miller & Stevens Meeting Date: 12/20/2011
Agenda Item: �� /
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City Council Agenda Report
City of Scandia
14727 209�' St. North
Scandia, MN 55073 (651) 433-2274
Action Requested: Approve agreement for legal services with Miller& Stevens, P.A.
Deadline/ Timeline: 3-year agreement, January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2014
Background: • After interviewing several firms on November 2 and 3, at its
November 8 meeting the City Council selected Miller& Stevens,
PA to act as the city's attorney for civil matters.
• The proposed legal services agreement is attached. It is consistent
with the firm's response to the City's RFP and has been reviewed
by current City Attorney David Hebert.
Recommendation: Staff recommends that the Council approve the agreement.
Attachments/ • Lega1 Services Agreement(Civil)
Materials provided:
Contact(s): Thomas Miller(651) 462-0206
Prepared by: Anne Hurlburt, Administrator
(legal services agreement)
Page 1 of 1
12/13/11
LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
(Civil)
THIS LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT ("Agreement") is made and entered into this
day of , 2011 by and between the CITY OF SCANDIA, a Minnesota municipal
corporation (the "City") and MILLER& STEVENS, P.A., a Minnesota professional corporation(the
"Firm").
RECITALS
A. City desires to retain the Firm to act as the City's attorney for civil matters; and
B. The Firm desires to act as the City's attorney in such matters; and
C. The parties hereto desire to establish the terms and conditions of the foregoing relationship
by this Agreement.
AGREEMENT
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the City and the Firm hereby agree as
follows:
1. Citv Attorney Services. The City hereby retains the Firm as its City Attorney to
provide advice, consultation and representation of the City in non-criminal prosecution matters and
the Firm hereby agrees to act as the City Attorney for the City in such matters. The services which
will or may be provided by the Firm include but are not limited to:
a. Providing legal advice and consultation to authorized representatives of the
City;
b. Attending regularly scheduled meetings of the City Council and as requested
by the City, other meeting of the City Council, Planning Commission and other City
commissions or committees; and
c. Such other duties as the City shall from time to time request.
2. Term. The initial term of this Agreement shall be for a term of three (3) years
commencing January 1, 2012 and ending on December 31, 2014 (the "Initial Term") and will
automatically renew thereafter for successive, one (1) year periods unless re-negotiated by the
parties.
3. Compensation.
a. Rate. During the Initial Term, the City agrees to pay and the Firm agrees to
charge the City attorneys' fees for the representation contemplated by this Agreement during
the Initial Term at the rate of$110.00 per hour for the time spent by the Firm on all civil
1
matters, as evidenced by the attorneys' time records. In lieu of the hourly charge provided in
the foregoing sentence, the City agrees to pay the Firm and the Firm agrees to charge the City
a flat rate of$150.00 for regularly-scheduled council meetings. Any special meetings, work
sessions, or other non-regular meetings will be billed at the hourly rate of$110.00 per hour.
By written notice on or before the end of the Initial Term and the end of each extension term
thereafter, with the approval of the City Council, the Firm may increase its hourly rate for the
services provided hereunder provided that in no event will the hourly rate charged by the
Firm to the City be greater than the hourly rate charge to the Firm's other municipal clients.
b. Expenses. In addition to the above fees, the City agrees to pay all expenses
when billed, whether accrued or prospective, including all costs and disbursements incidental
to the handling of various City files, including, but not limited to, extraordinary
photocopying costs, long distance telephone charges, and fees and expenses for any experts
hired on the City's behalf.
c. Billin . To the extent reasonable to do so, the Firm will open a new billing
file for each specific matter as to which the Firm provides services hereunder. Matters not
identified by specific file shall be covered under a Miscellaneous City file opened for each
year of the Firm's representation of the City. The City understands that the time charges to
such City files at the hourly rate then in effect will include all time spent on City files,
including conferences, legal research, telephone calls, emails, drafting documents and
pleadings, negotiations, handling secondary problems, travel time and attendance at hearings
and trial. Charges will be billed in 1/lOth of an hour increments, with a minimum charge for
telephone calls of 2/10"' of an hour. Itemized statements will be e-mailed to the City on a
monthly basis and if received by the 10`h day of the month, the City will consider approval of
such statements at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting for such month. Payment
shall thereafter be made in accordance with Minnesota Statutes and the City's claims
procedures. If there is any dispute as to any amount claimed by the Firm under this
Ageement which can't be resolved by the parties hereto, the parties agree to submit such
dispute to resolution by the District 19 bar association fee dispute resolution mechanism.
4. Miscellaneous.
4.1 Governin� Law• This Ageement shall be governed by and conshued in
accordance with the laws of the State of Minnesota and all disputes hereunder shall be
venued in the district court in and for Washington County, State of Minnesota and all parties
hereby agrees to the jurisdiction of such court.
4.2 Binding Effect. This Agreement shall be binding on and inure to the benefit
of the parties hereto and the respective heirs, successors, assigns, personal representative and
executors of such parties.
4.3 Amendment, Modification, or Waiver. No amendment, modification, or
waiver of any condition, provision or term of this Agreement shall be made or of any effect
unless made in writing, signed by the party or parties to be bound or a duly authorized
representative, and specifying with particularity the extent and nature of such amendment,
modification or waiver. Any waiver by any party of any default hereunder by another party
2
shall not affect or impair any right arising from any subsequent default. Except as expressly
and specifically stated otherwise, nothing herein shall limit the remedies and rights of the
parties hereto under and pursuant to this Agreement.
4.4 Severable Provisions. Each provision, section, sentence, clause, phrase, and
word of this Agreement is intended to be severable. If any provision, section, sentence,
clause, phrase and word hereof is illegal or invalid for any reason whatsoever, such illegality
or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remainder of this Agreement.
4.5 Captions, Headings or Titles. All captions, headings, or titles in the
paragraphs or sections of this Agreement are inserted for convenience of reference only and
shall not constitute a part of this Agreement or as a limitation on the scope of the particular
paragraphs or sections to which they apply.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement on the day and
year first above written.
Dated: , 2011. CITY OF SCANDIA
By:
Randall Simonson, Mayor
By:
Anne Hurlburt, Administrator
Dated: , 201 l. MILLER& STEVENS,P.A.
By:
Thomas F. Miller, President
3
. � �6
��U��� �
LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
i� -� � -//
(Civil)
THIS LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT ("Agreement") is made and entered into this
I 20ih day of ,December, 2011 by and between the CITY OF SCANDIA, a
Minnesota municipal corporation (the "City") and MILLER & STEVENS, P.A., a Minnesota
professional corporation(the "Firm").
RECITALS
A. City desires to retain the Firm to act as the City's attorney for civil matters; and
B. The Firm desires to act as the City's attorney in such matters; and
C. The parties hereto desire to establish the terms and conditions of the foregoing relationship
by this Agreement.
AGREEMENT
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the City and the Firm hereby agee as
follows:
1. Citv Attorne�Services. The City hereby retains the Firm as its City Attorney to
provide advice, consultation and representation of the City in non-criminal prosecution matters and
the Firm hereby agrees to act as the City Attorney for the City in such matters. The services which
will or may be provided by the Firm include but are not limited to:
a. Providing legal advice and consultation to authorized representatives of the
City;
b. Attending regularly scheduled meetings of the City Council and as requested
by the City, other meeting of the City Council, Planning Commission and other City
commissions or committees; and
c. Such other duties as the City shall from time to time request.
2. Term. The initial term of this Agreement shall be for a term of three (3) years
commencing January 1, 2012 and ending on December 31, 2014 (the "Initial Term") and will
automatically renew thereafter for successive, one (1) year periods unless re-negotiated by the
parties.
3 Termination Either the City or the Firm mav terminate this Agreement at an ty ime
durin� the Initial Term or any succeedin� extension term b�providin� the other partv not less than
ninety (90) davs advance written notice. Each party acknowledges that such ninetv (90) dav period
is adequate to allow it to take all actions required to adjust its operations in anticination of
termination.
1
� 3-4. Compensation.
a. Rate. During the Initial Term, the City agrees to pay and the Firm agrees to
charge the City attorneys' fees for the representation contemplated by this Agreement during
the Initial Term at the rate of$110.00 per hour for the time spent by the Firm on all civil
matters, as evidenced by the attorneys' time records. In lieu of the hourly charge provided in
the foregoing sentence, the City agrees to pay the Firm and the Firm agrees to charge the City
a flat rate of$150.00 for regularly-scheduled council meetings. Any special meetings, work
sessions, or other non-regular meetings will be billed at the hourly rate of$110.00 per hour.
By written notice on or before the end of the Initial Term and the end of each extension term
thereafter, with the approval of the City Council, the Firtn may increase its hourly rate for the
services provided hereunder provided that in no event will the hourly rate charged by the
Firm to the City be greater than the hourly rate charge to the Firm's other municipal clients.
b. Expenses. In addition to the above fees, the City agrees to pay all expenses
when billed, whether accrued or prospective, including all costs and disbursements incidental
to the handling of various City files, including, but not limited to, extraordinary
photocopying costs, long distance telephone charges, and fees and expenses for any experts
hired on the City's behalf.
c. Billin . To the extent reasonable to do so, the Firm will open a new billing
file for each specific matter as to which the Firm provides services hereunder. Matters not
identified by specific file shall be covered under a Miscellaneous City file opened for each
year of the Firm's representation of the City. The City understands that the time charges to
such City files at the hourly rate then in effect will include all time spent on City files,
including conferences, legal research, telephone calls, emails, drafting documents and
pleadings, negotiations, handling secondary problems, travel time and attendance at hearings
and trial. Charges will be billed in 1/10"' of an hour increments, with a minimum charge for
telephone calls of 2/lOth of an hour. Itemized statements will be e-mailed to the City on a
monthly basis and if received by the 10`h day of the month, the City will consider approval of
such statements at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting for such month. Payment
shall thereafter be made in accordance with Minnesota Statutes and the City's claims
procedures. If there is any dispute as to any amount claimed by the Firm under this
Agreement which can't be resolved by the parties hereto, the parties agree to submit such
dispute to resolution by the District 19 bar association fee dispute resolution mechanism.
5 Ma�ractice Insurance At all times while this A�reement is in effect, the Firm shall
maintain professional liability insurance issued by an insurance companv licensed to do business in
the State of Minnesota and with�olicy limits not less than$500,000.00 per claim and $1,500,000.00
in the a��re�ate Not less frequent�than annually,the Firm shall provide the Citv with a Certificate
of Insurance establishing that the Firm has met the fore�oin�reQuirements.
4.6. Miscellaneous.
6.1 Governin�Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in
accordance with the laws of the State of Minnesota and all disputes hereunder shall be
2
venued in the district court in and for Washington County, State of Minnesota and all parties
hereby agrees to the jurisdiction of such court.
6.2 Binding Effect. This Agreement shall be binding on and inure to the benefit
of the parties hereto and the respective heirs, successors, assigns, personal representative and
executors of such parties.
6.3 Amendment, Modification, or Waiver. No amendment, modification, or
waiver of any condition, provision or term of this Agreement shall be made or of any effect
unless made in writing, signed by the party or parties to be bound or a duly authorized
representative, and specifying with particularity the extent and nature of such amendment,
modification or waiver. Any waiver by any party of any default hereunder by another party
shall not affect or impair any right arising from any subsequent default. Except as expressly
and specifically stated otherwise, nothing herein shall limit the remedies and rights of the
parties hereto under and pursuant to this Agreement.
6.4 Severable Provisions. Each provision, section, sentence, clause, phrase, and
word of this Agreement is intended to be severable. If any provision, section, sentence,
clause, phrase and word hereof is illegal or invalid for any reason whatsoever, such illegality
or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remainder of this Agreement.
6.5 Captions, Headings or Titles. All captions, headings, or titles in the
paragraphs or sections of this Agreement are inserted for convenience of reference only and
shall not constitute a part of this Agreement or as a limitation on the scope of the particular
paragraphs or sections to which they apply.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement on the day and
year first above written.
� Dated: , December 20,2011. CITY OF SCANDIA
By:
Randall Simonson, Mayor
By:
Anne Hurlburt, Administrator
� Dated: December 20, 2011. MILLER& STEVENS,P.A.
By:
Thomas F. Miller, President
3