The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 9, 1993 -5 In court battles, principles outweigh costs I is|''"r th' 1 LEGAL FEES Continued from page 1 University last year after the regents cut off its funding. $65,617 to cover the University's court battle against the National Orga- nization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which sued for a per- mit for the annual Hash Bash rally. $53,170 in the University's ongo- ing fight to uphold the legality of Presi- dent James Duderstadt's 1988 hiring, which two news- papers sayviolated the state's Open Meetings Act. The University has spent a total of $143,413 on the case to date. In all, outside attorneys handled about69caseslast Cole year. These cases were mostly lawsuits, as well as some out-of-court legal matters like estates and administrative hearings. The annual caseload has ranged from 49 to 77 since 1984-85, when the Uni- versity first started tallying its outside legal expenses. But the average case costs twice as much to handle now than it did nine years ago. A computer analysis of University records shows that the average cost per case has climbed from $7,478 to $14,994. Total spending started at just over $500,000 and broke the $1 million bar- rier for the first time this past year. Two obvious factors are higher at- tomey feesand increasing costs ofhigher education. While outsideattorneyspend- ingwentup 114percent,theUniversity's general-fund spending also rose 91 per- cent. In addition, the University has taken an increasingly aggressive approach to lawsuits, refusing to sacrifice its stan- dards, Cole said. These figures illustrate the gradual growth in the amount of money the University pays outside law firms to handle lawsuits and out-of-court legal work such as estates and administrative hearings. $1,0001 w $900,00-o $800,000 $700,00 $600,000 $500,000 $400,000 $300,000 $200,000 $100,000 cls i ........... : ti F ;; i i mc Ic (I) N 44 :.Y. :: . . "y..til" :;:}: : :{ : v: '": ;:;ti $ :;: : {:; } ?' :: {;{ : :y'.: ."."J: rtiti i :.ti". '. _I iH mci I mc ND L to Hc 44~ a1 He Hc r": s: s: :; I p t F: : 4": "ra : _ .r' _ " 9 : A 198"S 198586 1986.87 1987488 1988-89 1989.90 1990.91 1991-92 1992-93 Source: Legal & consulting fees, 1984-85 through 1992-93, Office of the General Counsel For instance, the $91,916 the Uni- versity spent fighting to sever its ties with MCC was more than three times the $25,000 in annual funding that the University previously gave the group. And the $65,617 theUniversity spent in its case against NORML dwarfed the estimated $8,000 cost of providing po- lice services for this year's Hash Bash. Bob Carbeck, who represented NORML in its lawsuit against the Uni- versity, calledtheUniversity'slegalcosts "obscene," and criticized the University's choice of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone as its legal counsel in the NORML case. "There are much smaller firms in southeastern Michiganthatareperfectly capable of doing the kind of work that the University keeps farming out to silk-stocking firms," Carbeck said. Cole said in response, "We go with thebestfirmto deal with the problem. In my opinion, we chose the best person (to handle the NORML case)." Two large Detroit firms - Butzel, Long, Gust, Klein & Van Zile, and MillerCanfield -handled themajority of the University's outside legal work last year. Two Ann Arbor fens - Davis & Fajen and Hooper, Hathaway, Price Beuche & Wallace - each handled substantial amounts, while a few mis- cellaneous cases went to other attor- neys. Cole said the University chose these fenns based on their reputations and expertise. Butzel Long, Davis & Fajen, and Miller Canfield specialize in em- ployment-law issues, she said. Cole has tried to relegate more law- suits to her in-house staff of 12 attor- neys, who handle roughly 10percent of the University's lawsuits. But she said the University needs them in the office - not bound up in court - so they can work with admin- istrators and handle such tasks as con- tracts, internal hearings and grievances. Moreover, she said, outside fenns can provide more expertise in certain areas of the law. "It's hard to have a depth of knowl- edge in a particular area with a small staff where people do a little of every- thing," Cole said. 'You cannot have the same depth of expertiseas someone who does just that one thing over and over again," she said. Mary Elizabeth Kurz, legal counsel at Michigan State University, said large universities commonly retain the ser- vices of outside law firms. Michigan State handles most of its lawsuits through its own attorneys be- cause of the cost-savings and because its attorneys are more familiar with the university, Kurz said. But even so, it often seeks outside legal help. "Any university in-house staff is not going to be as large or have all the areas of expertise as an outside law fin," said Kurz, who recently served as presi- dent of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. Co.4me on down!. We'll be havingtwo (2) really exciting mass meetings for anybody interested in working on .e campus. newspaper(17,000 copies a day, one for you and all yourfriends). See youthere! 7:30 p.m. Next Thursday.