Resident questions outside counsel hours and discounted billing for appeal

Walter Star, speaking during public comment, said he had read the papers the city filed in the state supreme court and urged the council to ask outside counsel for an estimate of the likelihood of success on the appeal. He recommended asking how many hours the Rutan and Tucker lawyers devoted to preparing the brief and questioned whether discounted rates meant the firm would receive other business from the city in the future.

"The honest chances of the city's success, I think are somewhere between 1 in 100 and 1 in a 100," Star said, calling the appeal a "waste" if the odds were that low. He offered an estimate of 100 to 125 hours of lawyer time on the brief and noted that the firm's senior partners appeared to be billing at a discounted rate. He told the council he hoped they would "ask hard questions of counsel" in the closed session and said "thank you" after urging a thorough review of the legal work.

Council members did not adopt a specific follow-up at the meeting, but the remark was part of broader public concern about litigation costs and transparency.