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1EB8D3C1E3FDF84987258808004D7C0B Hearing Summary




PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For RESPONSES TO REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST REGARDING REPRESENTATION OF THE GA

JOINT COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON LEGAL SERVICES
Date Mar 17, 2022      
Location SCR 354



Responses to request for letters of interest regarding representation of the GA - Committee Discussion Only


08:06:31 AM  
Representative Weissman
invited Sharon Eubanks, director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services,
to summarize the request for letters of interest regarding retaining counsel
to represent the General Assembly in legal matters.

08:07:01 AM  
Ms. Eubanks testified
on the status of the request for letters of interest and explained that
the committee received no letters of interest in January but has since
received five responses. Ms. Eubanks also contacted the five attorneys
the committee has previously retained, and they are interested in remaining
on the roster of attorneys
.
08:08:52 AM  
Ms. Eubanks summarized
the five letters of interest that the committee received and reviewed the
criteria included in the request for letters of interest.

08:11:58 AM  
The committee took
questions after Ms. Eubanks' remarks.

08:12:08 AM  
Representative Snyder
asked whether the committee needed to make a decision regarding the five
responses. And Ms. Eubanks explained that the committee may decide which
of the attorneys they would like to include on the roster of attorneys
that are previously approved for consideration when retaining counsel.
08:13:12 AM  
Senator Gardner proposed
the committee include all of the five responding attorneys on the roster,
as well as the five previously retained attorneys.

08:15:22 AM  
Senator Cooke asked
Ms. Eubanks how attorneys had been selected to represent the General Assembly
in the past. And Ms. Eubanks explained that there are a variety of factors
considered including availability and subject matter expertise when selecting
counsel for retention.
08:16:40 AM  
Senator Lee expressed
that, after looking through the responses, all of the responding attorneys
seemed to be qualified candidates and also recommended including all five
of them on the roster.
08:16:55 AM  
Representative Weissman
agreed with including all five of the attorneys on the roster.

08:18:19 AM  
Senator Lee asked
that the OLLS send a response to the responding attorneys and the attorneys
who had been previously retained confirming they will be included on the
roster.
08:19:14 AM  
Representative Snyder
asked what might have caused more attorneys to respond to the request the
second time it was advertised.
Ms.
Eubanks explained more attorneys may have responded because of the timing
of the first ad, which was posted in mid-December and ran through the holidays.
Senator Gardner explained that when the ad was posted the second time he
also reached out to some organizations which may have helped.

08:21:05 AM  
The committee concurred
in including all of the responding attorneys and the prevously retained
attorneys on the roster and decided not to continue to run the ad for the
request for letters of interest at this time.

08:21:41 AM  
Senator Gardner proposed
leaving the request for letters of interest open for attorneys to continue
to express interest. Representative Snyder expressed concern for leaving
application open continuously but agreed the committee should reopen application
periodically.
Representative
Weissman proposed having the request open annually for a 60-day window
from October through November.
Representative
Soper expressed consent to the idea.

08:27:20 AM  
Representative Bacon
discussed diversity in applications and also possibly leaving the request
open for longer at times when the roster becomes too small. Representative
Weissman reasoned that the committee may decide whether the request should
be left open longer on a case-by-case basis.

08:33:50 AM  
The committee concurred
in reopening the request for letters of interest annually for a 60-day
window beginning in October and continuing through November by posting
the request on the webpage for the Office of Legilslative Legal Services
and advertising the request through social media and other free methods
of advertising.






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