Staff attorneys expected to reduce legal expenses

FREEHOLD - In a move that is expected to trim at least $130,000 a year from the county's legal expense budget while maintaining the high quality of legal representation, the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has decided to hire two staff attorneys and a paralegal.

According to a press release, the decision to bring some legal services in-house stems from a decision earlier this year by Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry and Freeholder John D'Amico Jr. to continue a review of the county's legal study that was begun in 2006. They found that savings could be realized in the areas of contracts, procurement, labor and employment, which require legal work of some kind on a daily basis.

"On behalf of the entire Board of Freeholders, I am pleased to announce that we have revisited the legal study and identified areas where there is sufficient legal contact on a daily basis to warrant bringing these services in-house," Burry said. "Doing so will put the Board of Freeholders in a much better position to reduce the overall legal budget. But it is not just about dollars and cents, it is about the quality of the work, and we have hired two excellent attorneys."

D'Amico, a lawyer and retired state Superior Court judge, said that during his private sector and state jobs, he appreciated the assistance of in-house counsel and paralegals in managing litigation, ensuring compliance with laws and regulations and controlling costs. In addition to placing two key attorneys on staff, the board is also hiring a paralegal to assist them.

"A major benefit of having special inhouse counsel available on a full-time basis is the ability to obtain quick responses to legal questions and timely answers to requests for information and opinions," D'Amico said. "This new structure will put the county administrator and the Board of Freeholders in a better position to gain control over legal liabilities and litigation, eliminate unnecessary expenses, reduce the overall legal budget, and effectively and efficiently protect the county's legal rights, interests and obligations in their respective areas of expertise."

According to a press release, efforts to trim the costs in the county's legal department began in January 2006 when the Board of Freeholders conducted a study that measured the different rates and structures in several county legal departments in New Jersey. The board ultimately recommended against hiring an in-house county counsel due to prohibitive costs and staffing, but proposed a reduction in the hourly rates for counsel, partners, associates and paralegals.

"The way Monmouth County had been represented was revised in 2006, and now we are taking the next step to curtail legal expenses by bringing these high-volume areas in house," Burry said. "We are confident considerable savings can be realized with no change in the quality of work. We will continue to examine other areas of the county for efficiencies in government."

Bringing two attorneys on staff also reduces the number of outside assistant county counsels by two. Hired to oversee procurement duties with regard to the Purchasing Department is John R. Madden, a Red Bank lawyer, who for the past several years has been handling these duties as an assistant county counsel. Madden will begin working for the county in September.

The board also hired Parthenopy A. Bardis to handle labor, contracts and employment. Bardis worked at the law firm of Scarinci and Hollenbeck, where she had been assisting the county's former labor counsel with Monmouth County's contracts and employment issues. She starts in August.

"We are continuing to improve the way in which Monmouth County services are delivered," Burry added.