Politics & Government
Selectmen Reappoint Law Firm Kopelman & Paige
The firm will operate under a new retainer proposal designed to save the town money..
The Board of Selectmen last week agreed to appoint the law firm of Kopelman & Paige as the town's legal counsel for another year.
It approved a new retainer proposal of $5,000 a month, which Town Administrator Tom Younger said would cut down on legal fees the town pays and increase the access town officials have to legal counsel.
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The firm, which billed itself as the premier Massachusetts municipal law firm with more than 50 experts, proposed the retainer fee as a way of forstalling plans by the town to hire its own in-house attorney.
The town in the past has averaged spending about $100,000 a year on legal fees. The retainer would have the firm handle many routine legal issues at no additional cost, but allow it to bill for extraordinary ones like litigation.
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The Selectmen approved a monthly bill for the firm of $6,630, of which Younger said the retainer would have covered about $2,700 had it been in place.
