HINSDALE, IL – After nearly three months of turmoil over legal services, the Hinsdale High School District 86 board unanimously chose a new law firm Thursday.
The new firm is Evergreen Park-based Odelson, Murphey, Frazier & McGrath, with 21 attorneys.
In September, Chicago-based Robbins Schwartz terminated its relationship with District 86, saying the district was “unreasonably difficult” to serve.
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Earlier this month, the board voted against paying the firm’s $132,000 August bill. After the board hired Robbins Schwartz in January, its legal costs surged.
Nine firms vied to replace Robbins Schwartz, with five of them submitting to public interviews last week. The district kept their proposals secret in response to Patch’s public records requests.
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At last week’s meeting, Burt Odelson, founder of the firm that bears his name, said his team’s work with all types of government bodies would help District 86. That work includes the state government, he said.
“We do work in the General Assembly on both sides of the aisle,” he said.
He also said the firm’s rates are reasonable. He said the firm offers a “blended rate,” so a client is not charged more when a partner, rather than an associate, handles a task.
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“After 50 years, there isn’t much we haven’t done in the area. We always look for new challenges. We don’t try to reinvent the wheel,” Odelson said.
The other finalists were Franczek, Kriha Boucek, Ottosen, and Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins.
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