Title
Dept/ Agency: Economic and Housing Development
Action: (X) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( X ) Amending
Type of Service: Professional Services Contract
Purpose: Amendment to provide legal services for Redevelopment/Land Use Matters Legal Services
Entity Name: DeCotiis, Doyle, LLP
Entity Address: 531 Dorchester Drive, River Vale, New Jersey 07675
Contract Amount: Not to exceed $800,000.00
Funding Source: 2025 Budget/Department of Economic and Housing Development/NW026, Account #32100, B2025
Contract Period: February 1, 2026 through March 11, 2026
Contract Basis: ( ) Bid ( ) State Vendor (X) Prof. Ser. ( ) EUS
(X) Fair & Open ( ) No Reportable Contributions ( ) RFP (X) RFQ
( ) Private Sale ( ) Grant ( ) Sub-recipient ( ) n/a
Additional Information:
body
WHEREAS, the City of Newark (the “City”) is involved in ongoing legal matters and therefore has a need to acquire Legal Services; and
WHEREAS, Legal Services are Professional Services, exempt from the requirement for public bidding, pursuant to the Local Public Contracts Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a)(i); and
WHEREAS, the Municipal Council, by Resolution 7R6-d approved on June 4, 2025, awarded a professional services contract following a Fair and Open RFQ process to provide legal services for Redevelopment/Land Use Matters for the City of Newark for calendar year 2025 through 2026; and
WHEREAS, subsequent to the award of said contract, the contracting firm experienced an internal separation of attorneys and reorganization of its business structure, resulting in a change to the legal entity through which the services are provided; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to amend the existing agreement solely to reflect the firm separation from DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin, LLP to DeCotiis Doyle, LLP, while continuing to retain Michael R. DeCotiis, Esq., and his attorneys as originally selected through the RFQ process; and
WHEREAS, City of Newark has requested DeCotiis Doyle, LLP, 531 Dorchester Drive, River Vale, New Jersey 07675, to continue to provide legal service for Redevelopment/Land Use Matters to the City without interruption within the scope of the existing agreement; and
WHEREAS, the total authorized contract amount remains unchanged at not to exceed Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($800,000.00) for the period of February 1, 2026 through March 11, 2026; and
WHEREAS, this Amended Restated Agreement remains in full compliance with the Local Public Contracts Law, the State Pay-to-Play Law, and the City of Newark Pay-to-Play Reform Ordinance.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee, the Deputy Mayor/Director of Economic and Housing Development, are hereby authorized to execute a Amended Restated Agreement to with DeCotiis Doyle, LLP, 531 Dorchester Drive, River Vale, New Jersey 07675, and any other necessary documents as may be required to reflect the firm separation and reorganization, with no change to the total contract amount, for the provision of legal service for Redevelopment/Land Use Matters for the period February 1, 2026 through March 11, 2026.
2. The Municipal Council hereby ratifies the continued provision of Redevelopment/Land Use Matters legal services from the date of the firm separation through the adoption of this Resolution.
3. All other terms and conditions of the original agreement, including the not-to-exceed amount of $800,000.00, shall remain unchanged.
4. This Amended Restated Agreement is executed pursuant to the City’s Fair and Open RFQ process, Professional Services Exception to public bidding under N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a)(i), the State Pay-to-Play Law, and the City of Newark Pay-to-Play Reform Ordinance.
5. Attached hereto is a Certification of Funds from the Director of the Department of Finance, which states that: 1) there are sufficient funds in the amount of $800,000.00 for the purpose set forth herein above; and 2) that the line appropriation of the Official Budget which shall be charged is:
Bus.Unit Account# BudgetRef.
NW026 32100 B2025
6. A copy of the fully executed Amended Stated Agreement shall be filed with the Office of the City Clerk and made available for public inspection.
7. Notice of this action shall be published as required by law within ten (10) days of adoption.
STATEMENT
This Resolution ratifies, amends, and authorizes an Amended Restated Agreement to provide legal service for Redevelopment/Land Use Matters to reflect an internal firm separation and reorganization from DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin, LLP to DeCotiis Doyle, LLP, 531 Dorchester Drive, River Vale, New Jersey 07675 while continuing with Michael R. DeCotiis, Esq., and his attorneys as selected through a Fair and Open RFQ process, with no increase to the authorized contract amount of $800,000.00, for calendar year of 2025 to 2026.