Municipal Law

 

	Gilbert Courts

At the Firm, we understand the daily and long-term needs of municipalities because our attorneys have served Arizona cities and towns in all areas of law for over twenty-five years.

General Counsel: The Firm serves as General Counsel for the Town of Gilbert, the City of Litchfield Park, the Town of Wickenburg, the Town of Clifton, the Town of Gilbert, the Town of Youngtown and the Town of Jerome. Additionally, the Firm serves as special counsel to many other cities and towns across the State of Arizona. In our capacity as General Counsel for municipalities, we address legal questions related to agenda items, open meeting law, conflicts of interest, referendum and election concerns, public funding, ordinance and contracts and other matters. The Firm also meets regularly with staff and department heads to provide advice on potential legal matters, so these issues can be avoided or minimized before they become bigger problems.

Ordinances and Resolutions: The Firm prepares ordinances and resolutions on a regular basis and has participated in the wholesale revision of several municipal codes. Recent ordinances dealt with graffiti prevention and enforcement, stemming the illegal production of methamphetamine products, property maintenance and nuisance abatement, communications tower siting and the use of municipal rights-of-way.

Personnel Issues: We advise our municipal clients on legal issues related to the hiring, training, discipline and termination of personnel. We have extensive knowledge of Arizona and federal employment laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Family Medical Leave Act, the Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act for their applicability and affect on local governments. We also advise our clients on the development and implementation of employee drug and alcohol testing laws and policies, employee benefits, and liabilities and immunities for employee actions.

Contracts: We regularly prepare and review municipal contracts, including intergovernmental agreements, construction contracts, architect/engineering services contracts, independent contractor agreements, procurement contracts for the purchase of equipment or other professional services, real estate purchase contracts, leases, and landscaping and maintenance contracts. We assist municipal clients with annexations and pre-annexation development agreements.

Real Estate Transactions:  We assist our municipal clients with all facets of real estate transactions. We currently coordinate a municipality's right-of-way acquisition program for a multi-million dollar Capital Improvements Program, including coordination with engineers, appraisers, acquisition agents and escrow companies. We have assisted our municipal clients with property acquisition related to large municipal facilities, redevelopment districts and improvement districts.

Elections: We regularly advise our municipal clients on election and referenda issues. We have an extensive collection of election forms, and our attorneys are well-versed in Arizona election laws and the Voting Rights Act. Susan D. Goodwin served as legal counsel for the Maricopa County Republican Party for four years and has extensive experience in election law. We also recently represented the Clerk of a southern Arizona municipality in litigation over a referendum petition filed against her in the Arizona Superior Court.

Franchises and Telecommunications Licenses: We have represented the Town of Gilbert in negotiations for new cable television licenses issued to CoxCom and US West Communications and have prepared numerous licenses for telecommunications providers to use public rights-of-way and many site leases for use by telecommunications providers of municipal facilities for siting antennas. Our attorneys have also negotiated several utility franchises on behalf of municipalities and utilities involving water, gas, electric, and/or sewer service.

Construction Management: We regularly consult with municipal clients on construction management of public works and parks and recreation construction projects. Our attorneys have experience with the new alternative procurement methods authorized for municipalities and are very familiar with the recent changes to Title 34 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. We have also helped negotiate the settlement of construction delay and cost overrun claims in numerous instances for our municipal clients, which we believe has resulted in saving our clients thousands, and sometimes hundreds of thousands, of dollars in construction fees and costs.

Improvement Districts: Our attorneys have worked with municipalities to form numerous special improvement districts, including Improvement District No. 11 in Gilbert, which was, at the time, the largest improvement district in the State. Our attorneys have also assisted in creating Improvement Districts No. 16, 18 and 19 in Gilbert. The Firm further has established a program to assist our municipal clients in creating Streetlight Improvement Districts. We have put our attorneys to work creating Street Improvement Districts in the City of Surprise, the Town of Chino Valley and the City of Litchfield Park.