During the most recent meeting of the Board of Selectmen, members discussed whether or not they should go out for bid for the town’s legal services contract, but held off on making an immediate decision.
“Attached please find correspondence from Town Attorney David Lefevre offering to continue to serve as general legal counsel for the Town of Hudson for Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026) for the current rate of $145.00 per hour,” Town Administrator Roy Sorenson wrote in a memo. “Attorney Lefevre has served as the Town’s general counsel for the past ten years and has not raised his hourly rate in the ten years he has been the Town’s general counsel. The Board also has the option of going out to bid for general legal services should the Board choose to do so.”
In his proposal letter to the Board of Selectmen Lefevre wrote “My office will continue to provide legal services to the Town at the present reduced rate of $145 per hour, which is the same rate for all attorneys, will not vary between litigation and non-litigation services, and will not be increased after a certain number of hours.”
“Non-attorney paralegal time will also be charged at the current reduced rate of $60 per hour. As always, no retainer is requested,” he wrote. “Fees for legal services will continue to be billed in increments of 1/10 of an hour and invoiced on a monthly basis.”
He also explained that “routine overhead and expenses will not be billed to the Town. Out-of-pocket expenses such as filing fees, sheriff’s service fees, registry recording fees, etc., will be billed to the Town and itemized separately on the monthly invoices, as would other non-typical costs such as excessive postage or copying charges.”
The contract would be for one year.
Selectman Kara Roy said the rate is well below market rate based on her experience.
Selectman Heidi Jakoby, however, argued that they should go out for bid for everything.
“That’s where I stand firmly, that we should go out to bid,” Jakoby said.
Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Dillon Dumont said he thinks there is some merit to see what other communities pay for their legal services and what their structure is.
Board of Selectmen Chair Bob Guessferd said they could look at what other municipalities pay and officially decide at the next meeting, but said it will be likely that the rate they are getting is the lowest rate that they will be able to get.
The next Selectmen meeting is set for March 25.
