The Pennsbury School Board has dropped their longtime solicitor and hired another firm.
The 8-1 vote Thursday evening by the school board came after months of talk among board members and concerns by some over advice offered by the firm of Rudolph Clarke, which has represented the Pennsbury School District since December 2013. School board member Jim Prokopiak voted against the proposal, citing concerns over costs.
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District officials said they interviewed eight law firms and narrowed their search down to four. Interviews were conducted with two finalists, including Eastburn and Gray P.C., a Doylestown Borough-based law firm that dates back to the 1940s.
Eastburn and Gray was picked Thursday evening by the school board.
The new solicitor will charge the district a monthly retainer of $1,500 for basic functions, $175 per hour for litigation matters, and $160 per hour for non-litigation matters, according to the law firm’s proposal to the school board.
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District officials said the hourly rates are slightly higher under the new firm than Pennsbury was paying for Rudolph Clarke.
Board President T.R. Kannan said he suspects the district may actually pay less over the long-term due to various factors, including the speed the new attorneys will work and a potential lesser amount of litigation.
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The school board has been looking at their deals with vendors in recent years and evaluating them.
Rudolph Clarke, which also has other government clients in Bucks and Montgomery counties, continues to represent Falls Township, which is part of Pennsbury.
Rudolph Clarke partner Michael Clarke said he wasn’t going to comment on the change in solicitor.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
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Rudolph Clarke saw the district through a school board member who may have been living out of state, problems with past Superintendent Dr. William Gretzula, three lawsuits filed by administrators, a federal First Amendment lawsuit, federal and state investigators asking about the district, and more routine matters, like litigation over special education. The ongoing federal investigation that has looked at Falls Township and Pennsbury continues.
Kannan said attorneys from Rudolph Clarke, even up until recently, downplayed the seriousness of any investigation. The school board president told LevittownNow.com he still wasn’t entirely clear what the investigation is focusing on, but he acknowledged it existed.
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Since 2019, Clarke, several school board members, and past district administration had denied they knew of the investigation or even that it existed. In 2021, they referred to the probe as “non-existent ‘law enforcement investigations.’” However, it became impossible for officials to deny the investigation after this news organization confirmed federal investigators had contacted school district administration earlier this spring.
Rudolph Clarke’s hiring by Pennsbury in late 2013 came with controversy with some board members not liking that other board members didn’t include them in the interview process.
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The school district hired Rudolph Clarke at a lower rate in 2013 than previous law firm Fox Rothschild.
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