The Bayonne City Council unanimously approved (5-0) a resolution awarding a contract to the law firm Decotiis, Fitzpatrick, & Cole LLP to serve as general counsel.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
The temporary contract to run from today, October 15th, through December 31, 2026 “for an amount not to exceed $40,000,” according to a copy of the resolution.
The governing body approved the measure without discussion at last night’s roughly 75-minute meeting, with Business Administrator Andrew Casais explaining why they were moving on from having a Law Department led by a law director.
“In recent years, the number of attorneys in the Bayonne Law Department has declined, and legal demands have grown both in volume and complexity. After this week, there will be just two attorneys employed by the City. The current trajectory is unsustainable, and a municipality of Bayonne’s size needs access to high-quality legal advice and expertise to scale,” he told HCV following on inquiry today.
“This is precisely why the Administration and the City Council have designated DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick & Cole as General Counsel for the City of Bayonne. The firm has expertise in municipal law and government, and we are confident in their ability to provide a depth and variety of legal services to our municipal departments and officials,” he explained.
The move follows the city seeking a request for proposals (RFP) for general counsel in August.
The duties of the office require an individual to “attend all regular and special meetings of the City Council … attend all regular and special meetings of boards, committees, and commissions of the city (as required),” the RFP said at the time.
Jay Coffey and Donna Russo previously served as law director, with Coffey retiring at the end of last year after 35 years.
Arlene Quiñones Perez, a Decotiis equity partner, served as corporation counsel in Hoboken from January through August of this year, when the city decided to bring the post back in house, as HCV first reported.
