Rep. Guthrie Bill Caps Municipal Contract Legal Fees

The best kind of contract, says Rep. Scott Guthrie (D-Dist. 28, Coventry), is the one that is resolved in a timely fashion, without excessive contention from either side.

The worst kind, he believes, is the kind that drags on and on, costing more and more in legal fees for attorneys who seem comfortable to let the process linger on while they rack up more and more billable hours.

"There needs to be some fiscal sense brought to the process," said Guthrie, so that municipalities don't face crippling legal fees associated with contracts that are worth a significant amount of money, and potential tax increases for the community residents who pay the bills."

Guthrie has introduced legislation to place a cap on the amount of legal fees that can be associated with any municipal contract negotiation. The bill, (2012-H7317), would limit legal fees pertaining to a labor contract to no more than two-tenths of one percent of the total value of the contract.

"Negotiating contracts was never intended to make millionaires out of attorneys," he said. "Unfortunately, that seems to more often then not be the outcome, as these things linger on, with postponements after postponements, hearings after hearings, all ending at a point where - whatever the contract resolution may be, some attorney is getting a pretty significant paycheck."

"My legislation is not intended to interfere with contract negotiations, or muddle the legal process associated with them," he went on to say. "My legislation is intended to be a form of property tax relief, by setting a specific monetary cap on legal fees so they do not grow and grow like top seed."

"As an example," said Guthrie, "a community negotiating a contract with a total value of $20 million would be restricted from spending more than $40,000 on legal fees."

"That seems to be a reasonable, in fact a pretty significant, amount of money. By keeping these costs down, we will be helping communities be fiscally prudent and, perhaps, sending a message to certain attorneys that if their desire is to make a financial killing through contract representation they should look elsewhere or find a different career."

The Guthrie bill has been referred to the House Committee on Labor and is co-sponsored by Rep. Roberto DaSilva (D-Dist. 63, East Providence, Pawtucket) and Rep. John A. Savage (R-Dist. 65, East Providence).