EAGLE, Idaho — The City of Eagle’s law firm ended its working relationship with the city earlier this year. The decision came after working with the city for more than three decades.
The law firm sent the city a letter in January, stating they are withdrawing as legal counsel. The letter stated they were withdrawing and used the Idaho Rules of Professional conduct to explain why.
MSBT wrote to the city that continuing to represent them could break the professional conduct rules or other laws. KTVB asked how continuing to represent the city could violate these rules or other law, but the law firm wouldn’t specifically say, citing attorney-client privilege.
The other rule cited in the letter says the client, or the city, in this case, wants to take action the firm finds to be 'repugnant' or they have a fundamental disagreement with.
A shareholder with the firm, Cherese McLain, told KTVB it wasn't one single thing, but rather a culmination of many things that caused the working relationship to come to an end.
KTVB tried to reach out to the city for a comment on the matter, and a spokesperson said they have no comment.
After being told ‘no comment’ over the phone by the spokesperson Tuesday, KTVB sent a crew to city hall to try and talk to the mayor directly. KTVB was once again told the city didn’t have a comment.
Following that, KTVB tried to call each one of the council members and mayor directly. None of them answered or returned calls Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the City of Eagle released an official statement.
"Changes in policy, priorities and personnel happen over the years as any city grows. Such change includes lawyers changing clients and clients changing lawyers," the statement reads. "The City was not provided a specific reason for the change nor does the contract with the city attorney require either party to do so. The change with the previous attorney is a staffing matter that occurred almost ten months ago.
"The hiring of new attorneys by the city as general counsel and litigation counsel was all done on the public record at that time. We are always looking to find the best fit for what Eagle needs and that change simply facilitated that goal. We appreciate the previous firm's service to the City, and the City of Eagle is excited about the current legal team and what the future has in store for the community."
The letter that was sent to the city by the law firm was posted on the social media app, Nextdoor, this week.
KTVB called Shaakirrah Sanders, a law professor at the University of Idaho. She said the letter did raise some eyebrows, mainly because of one of the rules that was cited.
She said while it is interesting the rule that reads, "The client insists upon taking action that the lawyer considers repugnant or with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement," it could simply mean the law firm had a conflict of interest on a case the city was involved in.
