At rates of up to $855 an hour, Atlanta has retained two attorneys from an international law firm to manage its response to a GBI investigation into open records violations , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News have learned.
Legal experts endorsed the city’s need to retain an outside law firm to handle the case, since the city itself is the subject of the investigation.
But the experts questioned the high fees and the choice of firm: Holland & Knight was paid $89,000 to advise the city on open records compliance during months in 2017 when news organizations were engaged in disputes with the city over public records.
Many of those disputes are now part of a formal complaint the AJC and Channel 2 filed with Attorney General Chris Carr on Wednesday over the city's alleged non-compliance with open records laws during the administration of former Mayor Kasim Reed. Two of them pertain to issues under GBI investigation.
Holland & Knight employed Reed as one of its partners before he was elected in 2009, and the lead attorney assigned to handle the GBI investigation is Robert Highsmith , a partner who represented Reed in a private legal matter in 2013 . Highsmith also represented Reed's campaign in the 2009 mayoral runoff recount, served as chairman and treasurer for political committees associated with the former mayor, and is the city's lobbyist.
At a minimum, experts said the selection of an outside law firm should have been considered and approved by City Council to ensure the independence of the attorneys' work. Instead, City Attorney Jeremy Berry, whose handling of an AJC records request is one of the matters being investigated by the GBI , negotiated the firm's involvement.
In response to questions from the AJC and Channel 2, Berry and Highsmith denied any conflicts of interest. Berry said he is empowered as city attorney to hire outside attorneys, and said Holland & Knight’s open records work for the city in 2017 was unrelated to either the GBI’s investigation or the AJC/Channel 2 complaint with Carr.
Highsmith noted that he has advised several other clients in open records issues, and helped MARTA mediate a settlement with the attorney general’s office in 2012.
“Our direction is to ensure compliance going forward, and that is the direction coming from all executive functions of the city — mayor, the city attorney,” Highsmith said. “We’re there to ensure compliance.”
