New Port Richey Rehires Bryant Miller Olive Attorneys

The New Port Richey City Council has awarded a year-long city attorney contract to Michael Davis and the law firm of Bryant Miller Olive.

The contract, which took effect when it was approved by the Council June 7, requires the city to pay a fixed retainer of $6,800 a month for its regular services, totaling $81,600 a year, to Bryant Miller Olive. Litigation, labor law and bond work are separate costs open for negotiation, according to the contract.

Davis, of the statewide law firm's Tampa office, was designated as city attorney in the contract. Davis has served as interim city attorney since Feb. 1, shortly after longtime City Attorney Thomas Morrison chose not to renew . 

Susan Churuti, a Bryant Miller Olive lawyer who has been serving as interim deputy city attorney, will continue to serve as his primary substitute.  

The city attorney job is a part-time independent contractor position. Usual services covered by the flat monthly rate include research, attendance at and preparation for City Council and board meetings and preparation, phone conferences with Council members and city staff, answering legal questions and review and preparation of documents, resolutions, contracts and ordinances.

After interviews with Davis and representatives from two other law firms , the Council instructed to see if Bryant Miller Olive would offer a new contract at a lower price.

The firm came back with a contract that charges a flat monthly rate that is 10 percent less than a fixed monthly rate it offered when it was interviewed by the council.

When it applied for the city attorney contract, the firm initially offered two options.

One option was to have Bryant Miller Olive charge the city a flat of rate $7,500 per month, which the city was already paying for the firm's interim attorney work. Litigation would cost $265 per hour for attorney work, $75 per hour for paralegal work and $50 per hour for law clerk work.

The other option would have charged a retainer of $6,600 per month for 25 hours of regular work. Overtime would cost the city $265 per hour for attorney, $75 per hour for paralegal and $50 per hour for law clerk.  The litigation rates were the same as the other option.

Bryant Miller Olive  has worked with local and state governments for 40 years. Davis has served as city attorney for St. Pete Beach since May, 2008. He served as  St. Petersburg City Attorney for 19 years and is primary representative for Bryant Miller Olive to the Toho Water Authority, which provides water and sewer service to Osceola County and part of Polk County.

The city budgeted $93,000 for attorney costs for the 2011 fiscal year, Schneiger said, down from $95,576 budgeted for the 2010 fiscal year.

Morrison's contract was for a monthly retainer of $3,500, according to city documents, with $130 for every hour worked beyond that. Monthly payments were not to exceed $5,000 without approval from the council. Morrson's bill last year included about $30,000 in unapproved payments.

Unapproved overtime was not a concern with the new contract, Schneiger said, because it is a full retainer with a flat monthly rate. City council members have to approve separate payments for services beyond the attorneys' usual functions.

The Bryant Miller Olive attorneys were the top candidates interviewed for the position, along with Jay Daigneault, of Hubbard, Brandt, Trask, Yacavone, Metz & Daigneault, of Dunedin, and Nicole Nate, standing in for Andrew J. Salzman and Caitlin Sirico, of Zimmet, Unice and Salzman, of Palm Harbor.