Attachment 3 - Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - Agreement for Special Services.AGR ;;i.o. D.:t(o
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AGREEMENT FOR SPECIAL SERVICES
This Agreement is entered into between the law firm of LIEBERT CASSIDY
WHITMORE, A Professional Corporation ("Attorney"), and the TOWN OF LOS
GATOS, A Municipal Corporation ("Town").
1.Conditions
This Agreement will not take effect, and Attorney will have no obligation to
provide services, until Town returns a properly signed and executed copy of this
Agreement.
2.Attorney's Services
Attorney agrees to provide Town with consulting, representational and legal
services pertaining to employment relations matters, including representation in
negotiations and in administrative and court proceedings, as requested by Town or
otherwise required by law.
3.Fees, Costs, Expenses
Town agrees to pay Attorney the sums billed monthly for time spent by Attorney
in providing the services, including reasonable travel time. i--ot-eJ.. Co �ptu'J S a'1 °-:-' -fe 1 "'�---tw.ou'(a.;1\0 r) Of-11,,¼S .�c.e..el'Y\v,-v . . ts V\OI The current range of hourly rates for Attorney time 1s from Two Hundred Ten to -t-o e�c.e.e& Three Hundred Eighty Dollars ($210.00 -$380.00). See Schedule I for a full Fee '$ lft,S7 ooo.u.r Schedule. Attorney reviews its hourly rates on an annual basis and, if appropriate,
adjusts them effective July l. Attorney will provide the Town with written notification of
any adjustment in the range of rates. Attorney bills its time in minimum units of one
tenth of an hour.
9120460.1 LC00l-009
ATTACHMENT 3
For Litigation Matters
See Schedule II attached for a description of Attorney's Litigation and E
Discovery Management.
Other Expenses
Town agrees to reimburse Attorney for necessary costs and expenses incurred by
Attorney on behalf of Town. Attorney bills photocopying charges at Fifteen Cents
($0.15) per page. See Schedule I attached.
Payment by Town against monthly billings is due upon receipt of statements, and
is considered delinquent if payment is not received within thirty (30) days of the date of
the invoice.
4.Professional Liability Insurance
The California Business & Professions Code requires us to inform you whether
we maintain errors and omissions insurance coverage applicable to the services to be
rendered to you. We hereby confirm that the firm does maintain such insurance
coverage.
5.Arbitration of Professional Liability or Other Claims
Disputes. If a dispute between Town and Attorney arises over fees charged for
services, the controversy will be submitted to binding arbitration in accordance with the
rules of the California State Bar Fee Arbitration Program, set forth in California Business
and Professions Code, sections 6200 through 6206. The arbitrator or arbitration panel
shall have the authority to award to the prevailing party attorneys' fees, costs and interest
incurred. Any arbitration award may be served by mail upon either side and personal
service shall not be required.
9 I 20460. I LCOO I -009
If a dispute arises between Town and Attorney over any other aspect of the
attorney-client relationship, including, without limitation, a claim for breach of
professional duty, that dispute will also be resolved by arbitration. It is understood that
any dispute as to any alleged breach of professional duty (that is, as to whether any legal
services rendered under this agreement were allegedly unnecessary, unauthorized,
omitted entirely, or were improperly, negligently or incompetently rendered) will be
determined by submission to arbitration as provided by California law, and not by a
lawsuit or resort to court process except as California law provides for judicial review of
arbitration_ proceedings. Both parties to this agreement, by entering into it, are giving
up their constitutional right to have any such dispute decided in a court of law
before a jury, and instead are accepting the use of arbitration. Each party is to bear
its own attorney's fees and costs.
6.File Retention
After our services conclude, Attorney will, upon Town's request, deliver the file
for the matter to Town, along with any funds or property of Town's in our possession. If
Town requests the file for the matter, Attorney will retain a copy of the file at the Town's
expense. If Town does not request the file for this matter, we will retain it for a period of
seven (7) years after this matter is closed. If Town does not request delivery of the file
for this matter before the end of the seven (7) year period, we will have no further
obligation to retain the file and may, at our discretion, destroy it without further notice to
Town. At any point during the seven (7) year period, Town may request delivery of the
file.
9120460.1 LCO0l-009
7.
8.
Assignment
This Agreement is not assignable without the written consent of Town.
Independent Contractor
It is understood and agreed that Attorney, while engaged in performing the tenns
of this Agreement, is an independent contractor and not an employee of Town.
9.Authority
The signators to this Agreement represent that they hold the positions set forth
below their signatures, and that they are authorized to execute this Agreement on behalf
of their respective parties and to bind their respective parties hereto. <J_ 0 '2,.�f> \} vfv-\
10.Term � 'o�""'--Y 4IDA€,"" This Agreement is effective February 1, 2020, ongoing and may be modified by
mutual agreement of the parties. This agreement shall be terminable by either party upon
thirty (30) days written notice.
LIEBERT CASSIDY WHITMORE,A Professional Corporation
9120460.1 LC00l-009
TOWN OF LOS GATOS, A Municipal Corporation
Name: Lour-el 3;--e ve+-h
Date: 0-. - d0 - ;;)_�o
SCHEDULE I -FEES & COSTS
1.Hourly Rates (As of Agreement Effective Date)
Partners
Senior Counsel
Associates
Labor Relations/HR Consultant
Paralegals
E-Discovery Specialists
Law Clerks
2.COSTS
I.Photocopies
9120460.1 LC00l-009
$380.00
$325.00
$210.00 -$305.00
$240.00
$135.00
$135.00
$135.00 -$175.00
$0.15 per copy
SCHEDULE II
LCW LITIGATION and E-DISCOVERY MANAGEMENT
LCW is committed to using state-of-the-art technology to efficiently manage and harness electronically-stored information ("ESI") in compliance with Federal and State law requirements. LCW partners with an outside managed services provider to provide Relativity, the industry leading e-discovery software, for this purpose. The cost for each matter will depend on the volume and format of the data. For non-complex data up to 50 gigabytes, LCW charges a monthly fee of $375 on all active litigation matters for data management, including data validation and security, ingestion, de-duplication, culling and streamlining, and creation of Relativity fields for expedited review. For data of 50 gigabytes and over and for complex data requiring specialized services (e.g., payroll data, spreadsheets with underlying formulas, video, advanced searches, etc.), additional charges are incurred and are passed through to the client. For such charges, we will provide an itemized bill from our managed services provider and obtain client approval prior to incurring the charges.
Litigation Case Staffing
LCW has organized its litigation practice to meet the challenges of today's complex litigation cases. We employ a dedicated Litigation Manager -a non-billing attorney litigator -whose responsibility is to monitor all litigation cases to ensure quality, efficiency, and adherence to client and firm litigation guidelines. Each litigation case is staffed with a Partner, an Associate ( or Associates, as required and as approved by the Client), a Paralegal and an E-Discovery Specialist. Our E-Discovery Specialists have extensive experience in the efficient management of electronic data through every stage of the e-discovery life cycle, and they strategize with attorneys and clients on effective ESI protocols. This makes the document review process more efficient and enables our attorneys to target the most relevant data to meet litigation objectives. Working with our e-discovery managed services provider, we are able to provide state-of-the-art dataprocessing and hosting services at below-market rates.
6
9120460.1 LC00l-009
DATE:
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
January 14, 2020
Mayor and Town Council
Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
MEETING DATE: 01/21/2020
ITEM NO: 6
Authorize the Town Manager to Execute an Agreement with Liebert Cassidy
Whitmore to Perform Labor and Employment Relations Assistance in an
Amount Not to Exceed $165,000
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the Town Manager to execute an agreement with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore to
perform labor and employment relations assistance in an amount not to exceed $165,000.
BACKGROUND:
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore was selected as a sole source provider for labor and employment
relations services beginning in February 2018 and continuing for two years as the result of a
competitive interview process. Donna Williamson, a Partner at Liebert Cassidy Whitmore and
lead negotiator for the Town, provided valuable guidance and established a good repertoire
with the Town's bargaining units during labor negotiations in 2018. Negotiations related to the
narrow topic of salaries are scheduled to occur during the final year of the three bargaining unit
agreements in 2020. All bargaining agreements will expire in 2021 and will reopen for the full
scope of negotiations at that time.
The Town of Los Gatos also has an ongoing agreement with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, a public
sector employment law firm, to participate in a consortium that offers Human Resource
professionals, management, and supervisory employment related training in areas such as: the
hiring process, wage and hour issues, discipline and performance, legislative updates, the
disability interactive process, and retirement. The consortium also offers free telephone legal
consultation for less complicated employment relations inquiries.
PREPARED BY: Lisa Velasco
Human Resources Director
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Finance Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 • (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov