Oklahoma City hires private law firm for union talks
Legal News Center
Oklahoma City Council members hired a private law firm Tuesday to lead upcoming contract negotiations with the city’s police and firefighter unions.
The firm, McAfee and Taft, was hired in part because negotiations with the unions have gone poorly in recent years.
"It’s just broken,” Ward 4 Councilman Pete White said of recent negotiations with the public safety unions.
Two of the firm’s labor attorneys will be paid $225 an hour each to lead negotiations with the unions for the next fiscal year, according to a contract council members unanimously approved Tuesday.
City officials hope the arrangement helps improve a damaged relationship with the public safety unions.
"It’s just to put a new face on it,” White said. "The people that do the hardest jobs we have in this city are the police department and fire. For the relationship to be this acrimonious ... is not acceptable.”
City attorneys handled past negotiations and will assist with the upcoming negotiations.
The negotiations figure to be tense because the city will likely ask for concessions from its public safety unions in order to meet next year’s budget, which will be much smaller than this year’s.
Related listings
-
Supreme Court won't hear Pimco market squeeze case
Legal News Center 02/22/2010The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal by Pacific Investment Management Co challenging class-action certification for a lawsuit alleging the world's largest bond fund manager tried to corner a market for U.S. Treasury note futures.A U.S. a...
-
US govt appeals court ban on cell-phone tracking
Legal News Center 02/16/2010The U.S. government argued on Friday that it should be allowed access to people's cell-phone records to help track suspected criminals.A Justice Department attorney urged a federal appeals court in Philadelphia to overturn lower court rulings denying...
-
New legal issue: Payment for child porn victims
Legal News Center 02/08/2010It's been more than a decade since "Amy," as she's known in court papers, was first sexually abused by her uncle. The abuse ended long ago and he's in prison, but the pictures he made when she was 8 or 9 are among the most widely circulated child por...
New York Commercial Litigation Law Firm - Woods Lonergan PLLC
Founded in 1993 by Managing Partner James F. Woods, Woods Lonergan PLLC has built a strong reputation as a resourceful and industrious firm that provides clients with clear, concise, and straightforward answers to their most challenging legal issues. Partner Lawrence R. Lonergan, who joined the firm in 2008, has been a friend and colleague to Mr. Woods for over 40 years and shares the same business philosophy. Woods Lonergan PLLC’s collective experience and expertise enables the firm to expeditiously and effectively analyze the increasing challenges clients face in an evolving business and legal world, in many instances, avoiding unnecessary time and expense to our clients. Our mission is simple: provide cutting-edge expertise and sound advice in select areas of the law for corporate and business clients. We thrive on providing each client with personalized attention, forceful representation, and a collaborative team effort that embraces collective knowledge.