Nassau awarded $8 million in lawyer contracts — with OKs after the fact
Richard Kessel, who heads Nassau County's financial control board, says it's bad practice for the county to hire outside lawyers before seeking legislative approval. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Nassau County has awarded more than $8 million in contracts to outside attorneys over the past six months and allowed them to begin work on cases months before lawmakers even approved the work, county records show.
The county attorney’s office authorized more than two dozen contracts for legal work in a range of cases months before seeking final approval from the Nassau County Legislature’s Rules Committee, a Newsday review of legislative records found.
The legal jobs range from defending Nassau’s red light camera program to challenging a new state law that shifts most local elections from odd to even years.
Lawyers can't be paid until the legislature approves their contracts, and critics of the slow approval process cite the risk the county may be unable to pay law firms if lawmakers don't approve their contracts. Among the late contracts researched by Newsday, the highest attorney fees topped $1,200 per hour, county records show.
At one Rules Committee meeting in April, the GOP majority approved a contract with the outside attorney who handled two personal injury cases for the county — on the same day another legislative committee agreed to settlements totaling $2.75 million in the cases.
In the largest of the late contracts, Nassau in April 2023 awarded $2.5 million to a law firm to defend the county's award of a lease to Las Vegas Sands. The company needs the lease to develop a planned $4 billion resort and casino on county property around the Nassau Coliseum. The Rules Committee didn't approve the contract until December.
The smallest of the late contracts was a $5,000 agreement in June 2023 to hire outside counsel to help Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, secure a patent to trademark a new county marketing slogan: “Golden From Coast To Coast.” The legislature approved the pact on May 6.
Richard Kessel, chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state board that must approve county contracts valued at $50,000 or more, warned that NIFA would begin to reject such contracts if approval delays continue.
“It’s not the way to do business. We can’t be put in a position of approving contracts after the work is being done,” Kessel told Newsday. “If we don't approve the contracts, the law firm can't be paid. We don't want to put the county in that position.”
NIFA said in a statement it was reviewing 19 outside legal contracts for services “that have already commenced.”
Officials in the Nassau County Attorney's Office said they were working to get contracts to the legislature sooner. Officials in the office note they must vet the vendors, who must disclose information about their finances and campaign contributions when bidding for county work.
“It is a constant struggle in our office to get these answers and responses in timely, and also to abide by the rules [of] which we are aware and happy to abide by,” Brian Libert, deputy Nassau County attorney and outside counsel coordinator, said at a Rules Committee meeting on May 6.
“It is indeed a time-consuming process … Each of those stops and steps does slow our process down,” Libert said of the disclosure requirements for vendors. “It’s certainly not our goal to get these things to you in this time frame, but this is the process that we have to abide by.”
The Nassau County Charter requires the legislature’s seven-member Rules Committee to vote on all contracts for $1,000 or more.
Asked Thursday about the issue of late approvals, Blakeman responded, “I don't know enough about it.”
Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle did not respond to a request for comment about the contract issue.
The issue of the late contract approvals surfaced during a Rules Committee hearing on March 11 when legislators considered a $500,000 contract with a law firm hired to file suit against the state’s even-year elections law. The legislation, signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in December, will move most local elections to even years beginning in 2026.
At the meeting, Democratic legislators expressed surprise that the Genova Burns law firm, of Manhattan, had started work for the county a year earlier. Genova Burns is charging $500 per hour for work by partners and $375 an hour for associates, legislative records show.
Republicans oppose the even-year concept, saying national issues will crowd out local topics when town and county races are on the ballot with federal and state contests. Democrats say local races should be decided along with presidential, gubernatorial and congressional contests when turnout is highest.
Mary Nori, an assistant county attorney in the Blakeman administration, said in a memo in April 2023 that the county hired the firm because the elections law bill posed an “immediate concern to [the] County Administration given its implications for future local elections.”
Kessel, NIFA’s chairman, said the control board has asked the county a series of questions about the agreement with Genova Burns, but hasn’t received a reply.
Approval delays occurred in a wide variety of other cases, according to legislative records:
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Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove), the legislature's minority leader, expressed concern about the number of delayed approvals in recent months.
“Occasionally, something might cause a contract to come before the legislature late, but this has become a regular practice,” DeRiggi-Whitton told Newsday. In some cases, “The fees per hour are exorbitant,” she said.
“These law firms do run the risk of it [the contract] not being passed, and it’s the wrong way to do business,” DeRiggi-Whitton said.
Legislative Presiding Officer Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence) said in a statement: “The legal system moves much faster than the County’s legislative process, and to protect the legal position of the County and its taxpayers, it is often necessary that legal contracts be in place before the legislative process can catch up.”
Kopel continued: “Though this practical reality might elude NIFA, their authority and discretion in these matters is limited by statute to the financial ability of the County to pay, and given recent bond rating upgrades and large budgetary surpluses, there is no threat that the County will not meet its financial obligations.”
Kessel responded: “Our authority is clear and unequivocal. We have the authority to approve or disapprove contracts, and I think we’ve been very flexible with the county at all times — if you have to enter a legal contract with a law firm … just let us know.”
Records show late approvals of county legal contracts have occurred under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
In disclosure forms related to the 10 largest late contracts, five law firms reported more than $61,000 in political contributions, largely to Republican campaigns or committees in Nassau County.
The five firms contributed a total $47,585 to Republican committees and candidates, including Blakeman, and a total $13,668 to Democratic committees and candidates, including former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
Curran declined to comment Monday. Blakeman's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Under county law, vendors must disclose political contributions over a two-year period to the campaigns of any county elected officials and candidates.
Jocelyn Johnston, professor of public administration and policy at American University in Washington, D.C., said procurement laws are important to “prevent political influence” in contract awards.
“Contracting tends to be politically fraught because it involves money leaving government and going into private hands,” Johnston told Newsday.
“There may be valid reasons to run it like this,” Johnston said of Nassau County's decision to authorize legal work before legislative committees have issued formal approvals.
“But if so, the legislature should be informed and should approve it. Otherwise it just looks bad. It raises questions about the whole procurement process: Is something awry?” Johnston said.
Nassau County has awarded more than $8 million in contracts to outside attorneys over the past six months and allowed them to begin work on cases months before lawmakers even approved the work, county records show.
The county attorney’s office authorized more than two dozen contracts for legal work in a range of cases months before seeking final approval from the Nassau County Legislature’s Rules Committee, a Newsday review of legislative records found.
The legal jobs range from defending Nassau’s red light camera program to challenging a new state law that shifts most local elections from odd to even years.
Lawyers can't be paid until the legislature approves their contracts, and critics of the slow approval process cite the risk the county may be unable to pay law firms if lawmakers don't approve their contracts. Among the late contracts researched by Newsday, the highest attorney fees topped $1,200 per hour, county records show.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Nassau has awarded more than $8 million in contracts to attorneys over the past six months and allowed them to start work months before lawmakers approved the pacts.
- The county attorney’s office authorized more than two dozen contracts for outside legal work before seeking final approval from the county legislature’s Rules Committee, legislative records show.
- Lawyers can't be paid until lawmakers sign off on their contracts, and critics of the process cite the risk the county could be unable to pay law firms if contracts aren't approved.
At one Rules Committee meeting in April, the GOP majority approved a contract with the outside attorney who handled two personal injury cases for the county — on the same day another legislative committee agreed to settlements totaling $2.75 million in the cases.
In the largest of the late contracts, Nassau in April 2023 awarded $2.5 million to a law firm to defend the county's award of a lease to Las Vegas Sands. The company needs the lease to develop a planned $4 billion resort and casino on county property around the Nassau Coliseum. The Rules Committee didn't approve the contract until December.
The smallest of the late contracts was a $5,000 agreement in June 2023 to hire outside counsel to help Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, secure a patent to trademark a new county marketing slogan: “Golden From Coast To Coast.” The legislature approved the pact on May 6.
Richard Kessel, chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state board that must approve county contracts valued at $50,000 or more, warned that NIFA would begin to reject such contracts if approval delays continue.
“It’s not the way to do business. We can’t be put in a position of approving contracts after the work is being done,” Kessel told Newsday. “If we don't approve the contracts, the law firm can't be paid. We don't want to put the county in that position.”
NIFA said in a statement it was reviewing 19 outside legal contracts for services “that have already commenced.”
Officials in the Nassau County Attorney's Office said they were working to get contracts to the legislature sooner. Officials in the office note they must vet the vendors, who must disclose information about their finances and campaign contributions when bidding for county work.
“It is a constant struggle in our office to get these answers and responses in timely, and also to abide by the rules [of] which we are aware and happy to abide by,” Brian Libert, deputy Nassau County attorney and outside counsel coordinator, said at a Rules Committee meeting on May 6.
“It is indeed a time-consuming process … Each of those stops and steps does slow our process down,” Libert said of the disclosure requirements for vendors. “It’s certainly not our goal to get these things to you in this time frame, but this is the process that we have to abide by.”
The Nassau County Charter requires the legislature’s seven-member Rules Committee to vote on all contracts for $1,000 or more.
Asked Thursday about the issue of late approvals, Blakeman responded, “I don't know enough about it.”
Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle did not respond to a request for comment about the contract issue.
Questioning the delays
The issue of the late contract approvals surfaced during a Rules Committee hearing on March 11 when legislators considered a $500,000 contract with a law firm hired to file suit against the state’s even-year elections law. The legislation, signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in December, will move most local elections to even years beginning in 2026.
At the meeting, Democratic legislators expressed surprise that the Genova Burns law firm, of Manhattan, had started work for the county a year earlier. Genova Burns is charging $500 per hour for work by partners and $375 an hour for associates, legislative records show.
Republicans oppose the even-year concept, saying national issues will crowd out local topics when town and county races are on the ballot with federal and state contests. Democrats say local races should be decided along with presidential, gubernatorial and congressional contests when turnout is highest.
Mary Nori, an assistant county attorney in the Blakeman administration, said in a memo in April 2023 that the county hired the firm because the elections law bill posed an “immediate concern to [the] County Administration given its implications for future local elections.”
Kessel, NIFA’s chairman, said the control board has asked the county a series of questions about the agreement with Genova Burns, but hasn’t received a reply.
Approval delays occurred in a wide variety of other cases, according to legislative records:
- On April 8, the legislature's Finance Committee approved settlements worth a total $2.75 million in two personal injury cases. That same day, the Rules Committee approved a $108,000 contract with East Norwich attorney Vincent McNamara, who had worked on the cases since the county awarded him the work in May 2023.
- In March, the Rules Committee approved a $750,000 contract with West Group Law to help negotiate a lease for NYU Langone to build a hospital on the campus of Nassau Community College. The law firm was authorized to begin work on July 1, 2023.
- On May 6, the Rules Committee approved a $750,000 contract with Rosenberg Calica & Birney LLP to fight lawsuits challenging county red light camera fees. The firm was authorized to begin work on Nov. 27, 2023.
- In May, the Rules Committee approved a maximum $61,500 contract for Gail Prudenti, the state’s former chief administrative judge and the former dean of Hofstra Law School, for work as a “special counsel” to ensure compliance with the county’s workplace violence policy. Work on the contract was authorized to begin on Feb. 1. Prudenti’s rate is $750 per hour.
'Wrong way to do business'
Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove), the legislature's minority leader, expressed concern about the number of delayed approvals in recent months.
“Occasionally, something might cause a contract to come before the legislature late, but this has become a regular practice,” DeRiggi-Whitton told Newsday. In some cases, “The fees per hour are exorbitant,” she said.
“These law firms do run the risk of it [the contract] not being passed, and it’s the wrong way to do business,” DeRiggi-Whitton said.
Legislative Presiding Officer Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence) said in a statement: “The legal system moves much faster than the County’s legislative process, and to protect the legal position of the County and its taxpayers, it is often necessary that legal contracts be in place before the legislative process can catch up.”
Kopel continued: “Though this practical reality might elude NIFA, their authority and discretion in these matters is limited by statute to the financial ability of the County to pay, and given recent bond rating upgrades and large budgetary surpluses, there is no threat that the County will not meet its financial obligations.”
Kessel responded: “Our authority is clear and unequivocal. We have the authority to approve or disapprove contracts, and I think we’ve been very flexible with the county at all times — if you have to enter a legal contract with a law firm … just let us know.”
Records show late approvals of county legal contracts have occurred under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
In disclosure forms related to the 10 largest late contracts, five law firms reported more than $61,000 in political contributions, largely to Republican campaigns or committees in Nassau County.
The five firms contributed a total $47,585 to Republican committees and candidates, including Blakeman, and a total $13,668 to Democratic committees and candidates, including former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
Curran declined to comment Monday. Blakeman's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Under county law, vendors must disclose political contributions over a two-year period to the campaigns of any county elected officials and candidates.
Jocelyn Johnston, professor of public administration and policy at American University in Washington, D.C., said procurement laws are important to “prevent political influence” in contract awards.
“Contracting tends to be politically fraught because it involves money leaving government and going into private hands,” Johnston told Newsday.
“There may be valid reasons to run it like this,” Johnston said of Nassau County's decision to authorize legal work before legislative committees have issued formal approvals.
“But if so, the legislature should be informed and should approve it. Otherwise it just looks bad. It raises questions about the whole procurement process: Is something awry?” Johnston said.
Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
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