Redwood Public Law Agreement for Legal Services 20240318

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AGREEMENT FOR LEGAL SERVICES BETWEEN CITY OF SAN LEANDRO AND REDWOOD PUBLIC LAW 3 The above definition of litigation does not preclude the City from assigning tort litigation to attorneys from qualified panel firms selected by the City’s third party administrator in consultation with the City Attorney and the City’s Risk Manager, nor affect the provisions of section 4(h) regarding the potential to retain separate legal counsel for any legal assignment(s) that would otherwise be performed by Redwood. All litigation and cost recovery shall be billed separately pursuant to Sections 2B and 4 (b) and (c) below. 3. Independent Contractor Redwood is engaged in an independent business and agrees to perform the services provided for in this Agreement as an independent contractor and not as the agent, servant, or employee of the City. Redwood shall be solely responsible for its own matters relating to payment of employees, including compliance with social security, withholding and all other regulations governing such matters. 4. Compensation. a) For all legal services other than those described in Sections 4(b) and 4(c) of the Agreement, the City will compensate Redwood in the amount of $295 per hour during the remainder of fiscal year 2023-2024, and $295 per hour during fiscal year 2024-2025 and fiscal year 2025-2026 for all attorney services whether by Attorney (Richard D. Pio Roda, the City Attorney) or by other attorneys associated with Redwood. City will compensate Redwood $155 per hour for all paralegal services. b) Attorney, through Redwood, shall be compensated between $395 and $505 per hour for all litigation services (as defined in Section 2B of the Agreement) provided by Attorney or by other attorneys associated with Redwood. These rates are only applicable if the City selects Redwood to provide litigation services; the City has the discretion to select any other qualified firm to provide litigation services. c) For all legal services for which the City is reimbursed by third parties, commonly referred to as “Cost Recovery Work,” Redwood shall be compensated at between $420 and $535 per hour depending on the experience level of the Redwood attorney assigned to the project. d) City shall separately reimburse Redwood for customary costs and disbursements, including deposition and witness fees, expert and legal consultant costs, court costs, telephone, photocopying, facsimile charges, computer research online fees and messenger services. e) Redwood shall keep a record of time spent on all matters in increments of one-tenth (0.1) of an hour. Each task shall be distinctly and completely identified. The billing entry must contain the name or initials of the individual performing the task, the nature of the task, the date it was performed, and the length of time it took. Redwood shall submit all invoices no later than the last day of the month following the month in which services were performed and actual costs incurred. f) During the term of this Agreement, the hourly rates set forth in 4(a) for legal services will be adjusted each July 1, beginning July 1, 2026, by the April percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area no less than 1% and no greater than 3.5%. During the