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Westwood Select Board on July 20 unanimously voted to appoint the Massachusetts law firm, KP Law, as town counsel, effective as of August 1, subject to successful contract negotiations.
With the appointment, the Town of Westwood is transitioning away from many years of representation by individual residents who have served as town counsel. With the retirement of Pat Ahearn this summer, the town has been searching for new legal representation.
Select Board interviewed representatives of two law firms, both with which the town has conducted past business. KP Law describes itself on its website as a mid-size Massachusetts law firm of almost 50 attorney that has four offices, with a primary office in Boston. The second firm, Mead, Talerman & Costa, LLC, is a smaller, mid-size Massachusetts law firm, with a little over 20 attorneys. Representatives of both firms respectively described themselves as exclusively or almost exclusively serving only municipal clients.
Lauren Goldberg, managing attorney at KP Law spoke alongside her colleagues, attorneys Roger Smerage and Amy Kwesell on behalf of the firm.
In a second, separate interview with Select Board, Brian Winner and Katherine “Kate” Feodoroff, partners from the firm, Mead, Talerman & Costa, appeared on behalf of their firm.
Following the interviews, Select Board members agreed that both firms were excellent candidates to serve as Town Counsel, but the size of the law firms appeared to be a determining factor. Select Board Clerk Erin Sibley said that the town was seeking a “deeper bench,” and that the larger firm, KP Law, would therefore be preferable.
Additionally, Counsel Goldberg’s expertise is well known in the region, and KP Law’s proposal was less costly than its competitor, said Ms. Sibley. Select Board member Joe Previetera agreed with Ms. Sibley’s assessment.
While not expressing a preference, Select Board Chair Marianne LeBlanc Cummings acknowledged the direction in which her two colleagues were headed. She stated that she was receptive to a motion.
The three Select Board members unanimously approved Ms. Sibley’s motion to appoint KP Law as town counsel and to authorize the town administrator to negotiate an agreement in line with KP Law’s proposal.
The two candidate law firms were selected by a screening committee comprised of Co-chairs Lou Rizoli and Town Administrator Connor Read, Select Board representative Erin Sibley, Planning Board representative Phil Giordano, Town Moderator Jim O’Sullivan; Director of Community and Economic Development Nora Loughnane, Town Clerk Dottie Powers; and Department of Public Works Director Todd Korchin.
