Interim board attorney swamped

Published 12:01 am Friday, January 11, 2008

NATCHEZ — On Monday when former board of supervisors attorney Bob Latham was not rehired by the board, he left behind a massive caseload for whoever may next fill his shoes.

The county is currently involved in at least 20 pending lawsuits.

Newly appointed interim board attorney Bobby Cox said the leftover cases plus the upcoming Rentech closing makes for an enormous caseload for him or any other attorney.

Email newsletter signup

Newly elected board President Henry Watts said one of the reasons he wanted Latham replaced is because he thought many cases Latham was handling were taking too much time to reach a resolution.

Some of the cases have been open for up to two years.

But Latham and Cox both said lengthy litigation is nothing new in the law practice.

Cox said he has seen numerous cases go on for up to three-years.

In fact Cox supports the way Latham handled matters as the board’s attorney.

“Bob is a very competent attorney,” he said. “I don’t question what he did.”

On Wednesday Latham was rehired by the board to temporarily assist with the Rentech land closing. But Cox will review his work and handle other cases.

Watts acknowledged that Cox will not be able to reach a resolution on all of the county’s outstanding litigation in his time as interim attorney.

Watts did not have a time frame for completing all the cases.

Cox said any attorney entering a case once it has already begun is at a disadvantage.

“It’s not impossible to catch up, but it is very difficult,” he said.

Supervisor Thomas “Boo” Campbell agreed with Cox saying any new attorney on a case is at a disadvantage. Campbell voted to retain Latham.

“Let (Latham) finish the work he started,” he said. “It’s a huge amount of work for anyone to catch up on.”

Former board President Darryl Grennell said he thinks the board’s decision not to rehire Latham could hinder projects the county is involved in.

“He was truly an asset to Adams County,” he said.

Grennell said Latham’s rapport with litigants was valuable and not easily replaceable.

Watts did say he has confidence in Cox’s ability to adequately handle the cases.

Cox said the workload for the county, between regular litigation and Rentech, could likely warrant a full-time attorney.

The job is presented as a part-time position but actually requires full-time work, Cox said.

In addition, Watts and newly elected supervisor Mike Lazarus both said they felt that Latham’s charges for work done on behalf of the county were somewhat excessive.

Watts said he feels much of that excess was generated by Latham’s unnecessary attendance at meetings between board members and various entities.

According to County Administrator Cathy Walker, Latham was paid $40,400 in salary and approximately $41,000 in billed hours from Oct 1. 2006 to Sep. 30, 2007.

Walker said from 2005-2006 Latham collected $115,000 in fees and $104,000 from 2004-2005.

Lazarus said he had been told, by an unnamed source, that Latham was actually making much more than that.

Campbell said he believes Latham was justly and correctly compensated for service rendered.

“He’s worth every penny,” he said.

Acting attorney Cox said he has not even discussed compensation with the board yet.