Atlantic County has agreed to contract with two prominent local law firms for labor and land use litigation. The agreements were unanimously approved by the Atlantic County Board of County Commissioners at its February 20 meeting.
According to County Executive Dennis Levinson, the firms are needed to provide services for positions that are currently vacant within the county’s Law Department. The county approached four firms about taking on this work, of which three responded.
“We are extremely fortunate that the firm of Testa Heck Testa & White has agreed to handle our labor work with our 23 bargaining units,” Levinson said in a news release. “Nehmad Davis & Goldstein will handle land use in addition to solo practitioners Shirley Grasso and Joel Fleishman, on an as-needed basis.”
Levinson noted that despite the county’s best efforts to fill these vacancies, they remain unfilled which places added work and pressure on staff assigned to other areas. The areas of labor and land use often involve time-sensitive deadlines and statutory requirements that require prompt attention.
“The proposals we received were very reasonable and better than what we expected,” he said. “The firms will be paid on an hourly basis for time worked. We save on the costs of benefits we would otherwise pay in-house staff.”
The firms will now meet with County Counsel to begin work as early as March.
“I appreciate the prompt response from these highly reputable firms to help us meet this pressing need,” Levinson said. “We could not ask for more qualified or experienced legal assistance.”
