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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5-6039 Amend. 4 PSA1 Public Defense Services – LaCross & Murphy, PLLC AMENDMENT 4 OF THE AGREEMENT FOR CITY OF BREMERTON PUBLIC DEFENSE SERVICES LaCross & Murphy, PLLC This Amendment specifically amends the professional services agreement made and entered into by and between the City of Bremerton (“the City”), a Washington municipal corporation and LaCross & Murphy, PLLC, a Professional Limited Liability Corporation (“Public Defender”), whose address is 559 Bay Street Port Orchard, Washington 98366, on November 19th, 2019, City of Bremerton contract number 6039. WHEREAS, the City has solicited legal services via the Public Defense Services Request for Proposal which closed on August 12, 2019, and LaCross & Murphy, PLLC is the awarded responder to this proposal, and WHEREAS the City desires to have legal services, as described in the August 12th, 2019, Request for proposal and this Agreement, performed for indigent persons legally entitled to appointed representation in the City of Bremerton, by Public Defender as an independent contractor, and WHEREAS, the City and the Public Defender agree that any and all funds provided pursuant to this Agreement are provided for the sole purpose of provision of legal services to indigent persons prosecuted with crimes in Bremerton Municipal Court, WHEREAS the parties wish to extend the term of this agreement and agree that all provisions in the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect except as expressly modified by this document; and WHEREAS, on November 19, 2021, the City and the Public Defender agreed to amend the original agreement updating the Definitions, Scope of Work, Defense Standards, Performance and Qualifications and extending the term of the agreement until December 31, 2022; and WHEREAS, on October 13, 2022, the City and the Public Defender agreed to amend the original agreement and current amendments, to update the Public Defense Standards, the Performance and Qualifications standards, the Payment requirements, and the term of the agreement extending the agreement until December 31, 2024; and WHEREAS, the City and the Public Defender further amended this agreement in December 2023, updating Section 2 Public Defense Standards, Section 5 Performance and Qualifications, Section 6 payment, and other employment requirements of the agreement; and WHEREAS, the City and the Public Defender further agree that an additional update would provide mutually beneficial changes to Sections 6 Payment and Section 2 Standards as provided herein; DocuSign Envelope ID: 1CADC25E-D2FD-4F8B-95DA-448F9B3A2F24 2 Public Defense Services – LaCross & Murphy, PLLC NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual benefits to be derived, the promises and covenants contained herein, and other good and valuable consideration, the parties agree as follows: 1. SECTION 2: PUBLIC DEFENSE STANDARDS is amended by deleting it in its entirety, and replacing it with the following: The City adopts the following standards for the delivery of Public Defense Services, pursuant to RCW 10.101.030: A. Compensation of Counsel: Compensation of counsel shall be in accordance with the provisions set forth in sections 4 and 6 of this agreement. B. Duties and Responsibilities of Counsel: The duties and responsibilities of counsel shall be in accordance with this agreement. C. Caseload Limits: Public Defender will accept all caseloads for Bremerton misdemeanor cases, except cases in which there is a conflict of interest, and following six to eight months after the beginning of the term of this Agreement, shall review the case assignments with the City to evaluate and establish caseload limits, whether on a weighted basis or not, to meet the new case limit requirements set forth in Exhibit A. Individual attorney case assignment cannot exceed the standards as set forth by the Washington State Supreme Court CrR 3.1. D. Responsibility for Expert Witness and Investigator Fees: After approval by the Court, expert witness and investigator fees will be paid by the City. E. Attorneys and Staff: The Public Defender shall provide, at a minimum, two full- time attorneys, one half-time attorney, and one full-time paraprofessional staff person to provide services pursuant to this Agreement. F. Supervision: The Public Defender shall provide supervising attorneys at the following standards: one supervisor for every two attorneys. Supervisors shall ensure all new associates have been properly trained and are prepared to appear at the Bremerton Municipal Court and shall appear in court to assist in training of new associates as necessary. A supervising attorney hired after the effective date of this agreement shall have at least three (3) years’ experience in criminal law. G. New Standards: The Public Defender shall comply with the current standards for Indigent Defense adopted by the Washington State Supreme Court, attached hereto as Amended Exhibit A and incorporated herein by this reference. 2. SECTION 6: PAYMENT is amended by deleting in its entirety, and replacing it with the following: A. The City shall pay the Public Defender for the services as specified in Section 4, Scope of Work, in the amount not to exceed $450,000.00 annually. Payments will be made in equal monthly payments. DocuSign Envelope ID: 1CADC25E-D2FD-4F8B-95DA-448F9B3A2F24 3 Public Defense Services – LaCross & Murphy, PLLC B. The City will pay the Public Defender a flat monthly fee of $37,500 by the thirtieth (30) working day of the following month. C. In the event of failure to comply with any items and conditions of this Agreement or to provide in any manner the work or services as agreed to herein, the City reserves the right to withhold any payment until the City is satisfied that corrective action has been taken or completed. This option is in addition to and not in lieu of the City’s right to termination as provided in Section 13 of this Agreement. D. Auxiliary benefits. In addition to the flat fee compensation, the City will reimburse required attorney training courses up to $2,166 annually per attorney and the City will reimburse Public Defender for associated Attorney’s Washington State Bar fees and dues up to $500 annually per employee. The auxiliary benefits shall not exceed a total amount of $8,000 annually and will be paid on a reimbursement basis for actual costs incurred. Reimbursement will be provided when an invoice and satisfactory support is received by the City. The Public Defender shall submit regular billing statements detailing work performed and amount charged on each task or portion thereof. The descriptions shall conform to and fall within the categories set out in herein. Upon receipt of a conforming billing statement, the City shall promptly process payment. PROVIDED, HOWEVER, the City reserves the right to prioritize scoped work and accelerate and/or delay work tasks under the time frame set forth herein. Public Defender shall not perform work beyond the Scope of Work, nor shall be compensated for such work, unless the Scope of Work or amount of compensation is modified pursuant to this Agreement. Public Defender shall only be compensated for Auxiliary benefits if requested. If a billing statement does not conform to this Agreement, the City may withhold payment until the statement is brought into compliance. Such withholding does not relieve Public Defender of its obligations under this Agreement. Such auxiliary benefits will be contingent upon the ongoing award of the Washington State Office of Public Defense grant award for both 2024 and 2025. Public Defender accepts all requirements of this Amendment by endorsing below. Public Defender further agrees that this Amendment constitutes full and final settlement of all of the Public Defender’s claims for contract time and for all costs of any kind, including without limitation, costs of delays related to any work either covered or affected by this amendment, claims related to on-site or home office overhead, or lost profits. This Amendment does not limit the City’s right to bring a claim for past performance. The undersigned public defender approves the foregoing Amendment as to the changes, if any, in the contract price specified for each item, including any and all supervision costs and other miscellaneous costs relating to the change in work, and as to the extension of time allowed, if any, for completion of the entire work due to said Amendment to the original agreement. DocuSign Envelope ID: 1CADC25E-D2FD-4F8B-95DA-448F9B3A2F24 4 Public Defense Services – LaCross & Murphy, PLLC This document will become a supplement of the agreement and all provisions will apply hereto. It is understood that this Amendment to the agreement shall be effective when approved by the City of Bremerton. The parties whose names appear below warrant that they are authorized to enter into an Amendment that is binding on the parties of this contract. In addition, Public Defender warrants that it has or will inform the surety of this change, and shall take appropriate action to modify any bonds required under the contract to address this change. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, in consideration of the terms, conditions, and covenants contained herein, or attached and incorporated and made a part hereof, the parties have executed this Agreement by having their representatives affix their signatures below. CITY OF BREMERTON LACROSS & MURPHY, PLLC GREG WHEELER, MAYOR By: ____________________ Its: Date: Date: APPROVED AS TO FORM: _______________________ Kylie J. Finnell, City Attorney ATTEST: ______________________ Angela Hoover, City Clerk DocuSign Envelope ID: 1CADC25E-D2FD-4F8B-95DA-448F9B3A2F24 Jacob Murphy. ATTY 6/7/2024 Managing Partner6/7/2024