The Board of Commissioners for the St. Louis Regional Airport is taking steps to hire new counsel on an hourly basis in an effort to save money on unnecessary retainer fees.
The board is made up of Chairman Wendell Ross and Commissioners Shirley Kleeman, Robert LaMarsh, Larry Franklin, Christopher Herzog, Steve Futrell and Matt Maberry.
During the July 16 meeting, the board decided to table selecting a new attorney out of 11 applicants until every board member had a copy of the resumes and an opportunity to review them.
Ross said that after the board has had the opportunity to review the candidates, they will go through a process of elimination. Then they will do a second process of elimination to get the list down to two or three applicants. The board plans to invite the final two or three to call into the next board meeting to talk further with the commissioners.
A special meeting is scheduled for today.
LaMarsh noted that after reviewing the applicants, some of them indicate that they are skilled in certain types of law in their resume while their expertise listed online appeared to be different.
“I’m just saying that what they’re advertising on the web is a little bit different than what they are advertising on their cover letter or resume,” he said.
One of the board members pointed out that they are seeking to employ counsel based on an hourly rate rather than paying a retainer fee each month. However, he said he was surprised by the number of candidates who referenced a retainer fee.
LaMarsh said the billable hour approach was proposed due to economics.
“Faced under the environment we had at that time, also looking ahead as to what impact the airport might have in terms of economics, that was proposed to go to a billable hour,” LaMarsh said.
“I think we’re kinda starting a new game now with the different attorneys and whether they come in with a billable hour or different fee structure. I still think that’s open for different discussion and interpretation,” he added.
Futrell said that in his tenure on the board, he has “not seen the body of work” to “merit a retainer fee” for the airport.
“I think we owe it to the taxpayers to select a lawyer … who would do it on a billable hour. If nothing else, just for one year to compare what we had over the last 10 years with what we get this year,” he added.
LaMarsh raised concerns over whether the billable hours would apply to all legal work performed. He said he would want clarification from the new counsel that “no matter what work they are performing, that is the billable hour they will charge.”
Dave Miller, Director of Aviation at St. Louis Regional Airport, noted that when selecting professional services, “you can base your decision on factors other than price.”
“This is not a bidding war, so to speak, whoever will work the cheapest,” he said.
LaMarsh agreed, saying he does not suggest selecting the lowest rate, but does suggest they “choose a billable hour basis” rather than a retainer fee.