Twin Rivers Unified School District trustees voted to sever ties with its current law firm Timothy M. Cary and Associates and hire Meyers Nave, a firm with more than 80 attorneys in six offices statewide.
In a 4-3 vote during a board meeting on Saturday, Twin Rivers trustees voted to give Cary's firm its 30-day notice, while reserving the right to extend the notice if necessary, said district spokeswoman Zenobia Gerald.
Voting in favor of Meyers Nave were trustees Linda Fowler, Walter Garcia Kawamoto, Rebecca Sandoval and Bob Bastian. Trustees John Dexter, Cortez Quinn and Michael Baker voted no. The school district's trustees were also considering Fagen, Friedman and Fulfrost.
Bastian said Monday that he hopes the law firm switch can help the school district get legal fees under control.
Twin Rivers Unified paid $2.6 million in legal fees to Cary's firm between January and July. Cary's firm has been routinely behind in submitting billings, a Bee review of invoices showed.
Gerald, the district's new spokeswoman, said the school district has not received any billings from Cary's firm since July.
Twin Rivers has been fighting a myriad of lawsuits since its creation in 2007.
Loretta Kalb started her reporting career at The Sacramento Union, moved to KOVR-13 as a television reporter, editor and producer, headed to The Associated Press in San Francisco and eventually returned to Sacramento and joined The Sacramento Bee. Throughout her career, she has covered the state Legislature, courts, local government and, now, education. She is a Chico native and an Elk Grove resident.
Diana Lambert began her journalism career as a proofreader at the Lodi News-Sentinel. She is now a senior writer at The Sacramento Bee covering K-12 education and California State University, Sacramento. Previously she was The Bee’s Elk Grove bureau chief. Lambert was raised in a military family and lived at bases around the globe. She attended four high schools, graduating from Tokay High in Lodi and then Sacramento State University. She lives in Elk Grove.
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