Three months after renewing its contract and in its first month of that renewal, the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLC, legal counsel to the Lehighton Area School Board, is facing the possible termination of its services.

During the board’s meeting Monday night, members raised concerns about the law firm’s representation, including advice and attendance, and then authorized its assistant superintendent, Mary Figura, to begin a “request for proposal” process that could result in the district getting a new lawyer.

Fox Rothschild, the largest law firm doing educational work in Pennsylvania, was hired by the then-new board in November 2021, at a blended rate of $250 per hour for base services and $300 per hour for special services. At the time, the board replaced the Lehighton law firm of Filer & Schwab, which had been paid $165 per hour for an attorney and $75 per hour for a paralegal to be present at meetings.

Three months ago, on April 24, the current board renewed the contract with Fox-Rothschild, effective July 1 of this year. At the time, resident Autumn Abelovsky expressed concerns about the firm, saying it was “pricey” and, she said, “a representative is rarely present (at meetings).”

Monday night, the directors hinted a reversal of their previous action is likely.

During the “Directors Concerns” part of the meeting, board President Jeremy Glaush mentioned some ongoing concerns the district was having with its solicitor, Jeffrey Sultanik, and the firm.

Director Joy Beers suggested, “It has been brought up that perhaps we should consider an alternative. I’m not advocating one way or the other; but, I just felt the discussion should be had.

“An ongoing criticism is that we have not had a solicitor present at our meetings, and many time that leads to confusion.”

Glaush said that while he didn’t think the solicitor would be needed at every regular meeting, he thought “perhaps for special meetings and meetings of importance, that it would be a good idea to have a solicitor present.”

Citing the firm’s fee of $250 per hour, Glaush asked, “ … but will somebody else save us money?”

Board treasurer Sean Gleaves said, “I have witnessed a few times where Jeremy has taken solicitor’s advice and it backfired. And it just makes him look incompetent publicly. The last meeting was a great example of that. Jeremy was told one thing, but then during the public meeting, that was not the same advice that he received before. It makes it hard to be consistent with the information we’ve been given.”