A lawsuit can put a lot of strain on a municipality, especially if you don’t have a large in-house legal team. In many cases, hiring a law firm to act as outside counsel can ease some of the strain.
Here are some of the ways outside counsel can benefit your municipality during litigation.
1. Filling Expertise Gaps in Your In-House Team
Municipalities often find their legal departments to be short staffed and they rarely have the budget for certain specialties. If your internal team is short-staffed or lacks experience in something related to your lawsuit, you might want to bring in outside counsel to help.
Outside counsel can give your municipality access to in-depth expertise and long-term experience in any legal area. For instance, a decent-sized law firm likely has lawyers who specialize in employment practices who can help with lawsuits related to those matters. There’s likely someone on staff who has dealt with your legal issue before, no matter what it is.
2. Providing Fresh Advice
When you’re dealing with a challenging lawsuit, you really need fresh and objective advice. Your in-house team won’t be able to see the issue in the same way as a neutral third party.
Outside counsel with municipal litigation experience can act as that neutral third party. They can bring in perspectives your in-house team won’t have and give you valuable advice.
3. Outside Counsel Can Help With Increased Workloads
Outside counsel can be a great resource for high-stakes, complex issues that go beyond the typical day-to-day work of your legal team. They can give your in-house team some breathing room to get other tasks done and focus on the work they do best.
Your municipality’s regular legal needs aren’t likely to go away while you’re dealing with a lawsuit. Outside counsel can help you manage the larger workload during the lawsuit.
4. Outside Counsel Acts As a Support Resource
If your municipality only has one attorney, you don’t have a backup if they take sick or personal leave. An outside law firm not only gives you a dedicated additional attorney to represent you, but also usually comes with legal and administrative staff who can act as backup.
Your in-house attorneys will appreciate having a law firm available through an as-needed general counsel services contract. No matter what happens, your municipality will be able to meet its legal needs.
5. Saving You Money
Sometimes, using outside counsel can actually save your municipality money. A specialized legal team can often do certain types of work faster or more effectively than a general municipality lawyer. And if the alternative is hiring a new employee and paying a new salary, benefits, payroll taxes, unemployment taxes, training costs, and recruiting expenses, outsourcing looks even more economical.
You can request a matter-level quote before your outside counsel team starts work. If you need expenses to be predictable, ask about alternative fee arrangements such as flat fees instead of hourly ones.
Outside Counsel With Municipal Experience in Western Washington
The Anderson Hunter Law Firm acts as outside counsel to many municipalities in Snohomish County and other parts of the Puget Sound area. We specialize in special purpose districts and serve everything from port districts to public facilities and emergency services.
Our law firm has been serving our local community since 1893. We are proud of our reputation for quality service, and we’re happy to help your municipality with litigation and any other legal needs.