Legal Services Review Committee

Applicable Committee Guidelines


The Legal Services Committee is classified as a Single Purpose Committee. Members of this Committee are appointed by the Board of Managers.

Scope of Work


Review of Legal Services


Outside legal services consumes a significant portion of the annual Chevy Chase Village (CCV) budget. In a time when all communities are searching for more cost-effective and streamlined means of providing necessary services, the Board of Managers (the "Board") has agreed that a review CCV's current use of legal services should be conducted to determine if there are ways to reduce our spending on legal services, while ensuring CCV has competent and timely access to legal counsel.

Understanding of Services


This review would be focused on understanding the various services provided today by CCV's outside legal counsel, the types of matters for which outside legal counsel is sought by the CCV Manager, CCV staff and the Board of Managers, the time spent on these matters by outside legal counsel, and the business relationships between CCV and its various legal counsel.

Observations and Recommendations


At the end of this review, I would expect the reviewers to make observations about CCV's utilization and quality of legal services, and to make recommendations as to how CCV might reduce its spending on legal services.

These recommendation might include such things as:
  • The hiring by CCV of a full- or part-time in-house lawyer who would be responsible for all routine CCV legal matters, such as ordinance revisions and building code exceptions and variances
  • Requiring the use of a Request for Proposal (RFP) bid collection model for all non-routine CCV legal matters such as litigation
  • Entering into a fixed monthly retainer relationship with outside counsel to provide structure in our legal services spending.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but provides examples of what information the Board of Managers should expect from such a review.

Members
  • Robert Brewer
  • Mary Sheehan
  • Allison Shuren

Board Representative


Michael Denger, Vice Chair

Staff Representative


Shana Davis-Cook, Village Manager