Travis County ups pay to $100,000 for lawyers defending Lehmberg
By Andra Lim, Austin American-Statesman | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Less than two months after
The Commissioners Court last week approved raising the not-to-exceed amount of its contract with
The lawsuit stemmed from Lehmberg's firing of former prosecutor
Brand alleged in a federal lawsuit filed in July that Lehmberg fired him after he triggered a
County officials had told the
Even before the recent lawsuit, though, it wasn't out of the ordinary for the county to pay outside lawyers more than that. Lawyers received fees of
--The county agreed to pay one lawyer up to
--
--Attorneys for the firm
Other lawyers hired by the county have gotten paid lower fees.
In a case where a former county employee sued
County officials said they typically hire outside lawyers for matters that require expertise in a certain area of law, or in cases where using in-house attorneys -- who, in the rare instances when they bill, have rates between
County Judge
Biscoe said the cases in which lawyers have received fees on the higher end "really required specialized knowledge" and that the fees were reasonable. Typically, if officials determine they should hire outside counsel, the county attorney's office will bring the Commissioners Court a list of three or four candidates and their hourly rates, Biscoe said.
Other local governments in
The
McConnico has said in a statement that his firm "will work hard to give District Attorney Lehmberg and
The first
The county's outside lawyers have requested that they be awarded legal fees if they prevail, according to a court document filed earlier this month.
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