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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Ind. Law - More on: Allen County examines legal fees

This Feb. 12, 2006 ILB entry quoted a story in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette headlined "County examines legal fees: Bills of $800,000 a year spur search for alternatives." The JG also published an editorial on the topic.

Today, over two years later, the JG has another editorial on Allen County legal costs. It begins:

Allen County officials have successfully reduced their legal fees for two of the last three years, but a comprehensive review of how the county pays its attorneys is still in order.

Among the issues the county commissioners should address: Is it appropriate to pay the county’s part-time attorneys benefits? Should attorneys receive salaries plus additional hourly expenses? Would it save money to hire full-time attorneys?

As Amanda Iacone’s and Robbie Ketcham’s story and graphics package Sunday demonstrated, county legal fees dropped nearly 4 percent in 2005 and an additional 6 percent in 2006. Fees likely would have remained stable or gone down slightly in 2007 if not for a complex legal case involving the assessed value of Glenbrook Square.

The ILB searched in vain for the "story and graphics package" mentioned. I dropped a note to one of the reporters, noting that the story would likely be of interest to Indiana lawyers and officials beyond the bounds of Allen County. I received a quick response:
I am sorry to report that the story, which really was a graphic package, was not put online for technical reasons. Although I'm told there are efforts underway to correct that.
The reporter also noted that others had also asked about Sunday's story. So, perhaps later.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 19, 2008 01:00 PM
Posted to Indiana Law