At the Jan. 27 Leon County School Board meeting, the board approved creating a new Staff Attorney position and discussed the job description of the position.
Previously, in December, the board voted to enter an interim agreement with Pittman Law Group after board attorney Opal McKinney-Williams announced that she was joining Pittman Law Group. The interim agreement which concludes at the end of June 2021 will allow McKinney-Williams to remain the school board’s attorney as they search for a replacement.
The reasoning behind creating the Staff Attorney position is to give the Board the flexibility of hiring an in-house attorney rather than contracting with outside counsel.
Candidate qualifications for the position include having an accredited law degree, being a good standing member of the Florida Bar and having a minimum of five years in legal and litigation experience.
Responsibilities of the Staff Attorney will include supervising, creating appraisals, staff development, contract negotiations and administrative procedures and practices.
If you hire them you can fire them. The Board may be looking for better control over the legal advice and opinions they get. Outside counsel is more inclined to give them guidance they don’t want. In house lawyer will be more submissive.
Well, Pitman has infiltrated the City of Tallahassee, Leon County, the Leon County Sheriff's Office, and now the LCS... 100% corruption complete!
Have they considered how much more difficult it will be to bundle and launder campaign contributions without having an outside firm like a Pittman Law Group?
Interesting move back to the past. The School Board had a staff attorney since the 70's. The last staff attorney was Gwen Graham in the Pon's administration. Is she coming back? An outside law firm is needed to keep the Board and Supt. In check reguarding to their decisions.