Three current Lehighton Area School District board members will be leaving their seats in December and it appears the new group of directors will have an opportunity to choose the firm that will provide the district legal services.

The board unanimously extended the Lehighton-based Filer & Schwab law firm through the end of the 2021 calendar year after seeking proposals for solicitor services and placing an item on Monday’s agenda to hire a Bethlehem firm.

The agenda called for a motion to hire King, Spry, Herman, Freund and Faul, the firm that handles the district’s special education and litigation matters. A disagreement on hiring that firm for all legal issues, led to a compromise.

“Why don’t we continue keeping the same attorney (Filer & Schwab) provided they want to go six months and then open it up to the new board,” Director Stephen Holland, one of the three departing the board, said.

Joy Beers concurred, saying she was “all for keeping Eric (Filer) through the end of the year.”

There was a delay in voting on the solicitor matter Monday night while Holland drove to the district administration building to participate due to technical issues with his connection to the virtual meeting.

Filer & Schwab’s fee proposal submitted to the district calls for $165/hour for an attorney and $75/hour for a paralegal.

King Spry listed an annual fee of $15,000 for 2021-22. The annual fee would cover routine services. For other matters, the firm’s $160/hour rate would kick in.

Filer & Schwab have been representing the district on routine matters for over 30 years, but some directors and constituents have called for a change.

“Given the current situation of our district, I think we should postpone this until we get legitimate proposals from three competent firms who would provide qualified and suitable representation,” Director David Bradley said.

Bradley has filed multiple lawsuits against the district, which was represented in those matters by King Spry. Beers said she attended a court hearing in one of those cases and was “less than impressed” with the firm.

“I observed a King Spry lawyer in action and I was not impressed,” she said. “He was forgetting lingo. The judge asked him questions about facts and he did not know them. Dave looked a lot more professional and lawyerly than the guy from King Spry.”

Last week, Carbon County President Judge Roger Nanovic ruled against Bradley’s petition to remove five Lehighton directors from office.

Board President Larry Stern, one of the directors Bradley tried to have removed, said Bradley is against King Spry because “they don’t give him the answers he wants to hear.”

“Mr. Bradley has pushed for these solicitor proposals and now he’s pushing for a delay because he doesn’t like the decisions that came out of it,” board member Nathan Foeller added.

Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams also submitted a proposal to Lehighton, listing its hourly rates at $160/hour for attorneys and $125/hour for legal assistants. Nonroutine matters would be billed at $195/hour for attorneys and $125/hour for legal assistants.

Neighboring Palmerton Area School District is among the area districts that employ the firm.

Lehighton, at the suggestion of district resident Walter Zlomsowitch, reached out to The Beard Legal Group, of Altoona, which represents Jim Thorpe Area School District. The firm charges $145 per hour for all solicitor services and $175 per hour for all special services including labor, negotiations, special education and litigation matters. It also charges $800 per meeting, which includes travel to and from the district and actual attendance at the meeting. No additional mileage is charged.