One week after some members of the City Council questioned the outside legal fees paid for the tax valuation case that took place for several years between the City and Exelon Power Plant, members of several City Departments said the expenditures since 2017 are not out of the ordinary. There is a need often to get attorneys specializing in unique areas of the law as many surrounding community cities have done, said City Solicitor Colleen Mejia. She also said that the notion that her department doesn’t work or farms out all of the legal issues is not correct.
“It is absolutely not true that we’re farming out all the legal work,” she said. “We work all day every day – as well as nights and week-ends. Virtually every department head in the City calls us at night and on weekends. This isn’t a 9 to 5 job. We use outside legal services to supplement and help us resolve issues we need help with. We don’t know all the aspects of the law and sometimes legal research doesn’t