Title
Dept./ Agency: Law
Action: (X) Ratifying (X) Authorizing (X) Amending
Type of Service: Professional Services Contracts
Purpose: First Amendment to Agreements for Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors (4 Amendments)
Entity Names and Addresses:
1) Gracia Robert Montilus, d/b/a GRM Legal Works, LLC, 76 South Orange Avenue, Suite 109, South Orange, New Jersey 07079-1923;
2) Evelyn Akushie-Onyeani, Esq., d/b/a Onyeani Law Firm, LLC, South Orange, New Jersey 07079-1923;
3) The Law Office of Gina DeVito, LLC, 28 Valley Road, Suite 1, Montclair, New Jersey 07042;
4) The Law Office of Connie Bentley McGhee, 292 Lafayette Street, Newark, New Jersey 07105
Contract Amount: Not to exceed $234,000.00
Funding Source: 2021 Budget/Law Department
Contract Period: January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021
Contract Basis: ( ) Bid ( ) State Vendor (X) Prof. Ser. ( ) EUS
(X) Fair & Open ( ) No Reportable Contributions ( ) RFP ( ) RFQ
( ) Private Sale ( ) Grant ( ) Sub-recipient ( ) n/a
Additional Information:
Five (5) Original Resolutions were awarded to five (5) Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors, each with separate contracts, yet paid from one (1) funding source with a total cumulative contract amount not to exceed $135,000.00, for the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.
One (1) of the five (5) Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors (Cheryl Craft, d/b/a Law Office of Cheryl Craft) withdrew from the initial contract award.
This First Amendment for (4) four contracts will increase the original contract amount by $99,000.00, for a total contract amount not to exceed $234,000.00 collectively, for four (4) Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors, for the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.
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WHEREAS, Legal Services are Professional Services and are exempt from the requirements for public bidding pursuant to the Local Public Contracts Law, more specifically, N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a)(i); and
WHEREAS, the Municipal Council, pursuant to a Fair and Open Process, awarded the following five (5) contracts for Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors, for a total contract amount, for all five (5) vendors, not to exceed One Hundred Thirty-Five Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($135,000.00), for a period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021; and
• Resolution 7R6-b, adopted on June 22, 2021, to Gracia Robert Montilus, d/b/a GRM Legal Works, LLC, 76 South Orange Avenue, Suite 109, South Orange, New Jersey 07079-1923; and
• Resolution 7R6-b, adopted on April 21, 2021, to Evelyn Akushie-Onyeani, Esq., d/b/a Onyeani Law Firm, LLC, South Orange, New Jersey 07079-1923; and
• Resolution 7R6-b, adopted on April 21, 2021, to Cheryl Craft d/b/a Law Offices of Cheryl Craft, Metuchen, New Jersey 08840; and
• Resolution 7R6-b, adopted on May 19, 2021, to The Law Office of Gina DeVito, LLC, 28 Valley Road, Suite 1, Montclair, New Jersey 07042; and
• Resolution 7R6-b, adopted on May 19, 2021, to The Law Office of Connie Bentley McGhee, 292 Lafayette Street, Newark, New Jersey 07105; and
WHEREAS, Cheryl Craft, d/b/a Law Office of Cheryl Craft, withdrew her name, due to reasons unrelated to the process or the City, after the Municipal Council awarded her a contract; and
WHEREAS, due to staffing changes in the Municipal Prosecutor’s Office, the Department relied heavily on the four (4) Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors during early 2021; and
WHEREAS, the original total contract amount of One Hundred Thirty-Five Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($135,000.00) has been exhausted, and all four (4) Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors have outstanding legal bills for 2021; and
WHEREAS, all four (4) Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors have continued to vigorously represent the State and City’s interest in Newark Municipal Court, and have submitted outstanding bills for the remainder of the 2021 contract year as follows:
a. Gracia Robert Montilus, d/b/a GRM Legal Works, LLC outstanding invoices totaling Forty-Five Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($45,000.00); and
b. Evelyn Akushie-Onyeani, Esq., d/b/a Onyeani Law Firm, LLC outstanding invoices totaling Twenty-One Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($21,000.00); and
c. The Law Office of Gina DeVito, LLC outstanding invoices totaling Four Thousand Five Hundred Dollars and Zero Cents ($4,500.00); and
d. The Law Office of Connie Bentley McGhee outstanding invoices totaling Twenty-Eight Thousand Five Hundred Dollars and Zero Cents ($28,500.00).
WHEREAS, the outstanding legal bills for all four (4) Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors, requires an increase in the original total contract amount by Ninety-Nine Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($99,000.00); and
WHEREAS, the requested increase in the total contract amount is deemed reasonable and necessary to pay the outstanding legal bills through the remainder of the contract period; and
WHEREAS, the increase of Ninety-Nine Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($99,000.00) brings the total contract amount for the four (4) Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors to an amount not to exceed Two Hundred Thirty-Four Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($234,000.00), for services provided from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.
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 Corporation Counsel, are authorized and directed on behalf of the City of Newark to enter into and execute First Amendments to provide legal services as Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors to: (1) Gracia Robert Montilus, d/b/a GRM Legal Works, LLC, 76 South Orange Avenue, Suite 109, South Orange, New Jersey 07079-1923 in the amount of Forty-Five Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($45,000.00); (2) Evelyn Akushie-Onyeani, Esq., d/b/a Onyeani Law Firm, LLC, South Orange, New Jersey 07079-1923 in the amount of Twenty-One Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($21,000.00); (3) The Law Office of Gina DeVito, LLC, 28 Valley Road, Suite 1, Montclair, New Jersey 07042 in the amount of Four Thousand Five Hundred Dollars and Zero Cents ($4,500.00); and (4) The Law Office of Connie Bentley McGhee, 292 Lafayette Street, Newark, New Jersey 07105 in the amount of Twenty-Eight Thousand Five Hundred Dollars and Zero Cents ($28,500.00), by increasing the total Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutor’s budget by Ninety-Nine Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($99,000.00), for a total amount not to exceed Two Hundred Thirty-Four Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($234,000.00) for the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021, to cover all outstanding legal bills through the end 2021.
2. The Municipal Council ratifies this First Amendment to all four (4) Agreements to provide Legal Services from May 1, 2021, to the date of the adoption of this authorizing Resolution.
3. All other terms and conditions of their contracts shall remain the same.
4. Attached hereto are Certificates of Funds from the Municipal Comptroller of the City of Newark, which states: (1) that there are sufficient funds, in the amount of Ninety-Nine Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($99,000.00), for the purpose set forth herein. The Certifications of Funds shall be filed along with the original Resolution in the Office of the City Clerk.
5. The Corporation Counsel shall file a copy of the executed First Amendment to the Agreements to provide legal services authorized with each of the four (4) contracts referenced above in the Office of the City Clerk and the same shall be made available for public inspection.
6. A notice of this action shall be published in the newspaper authorized by law to publish a legal advertisement and as required by law within ten (10) days of the adoption of this Resolution.
STATEMENT
This Resolution ratifies, amends and authorizes the Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee, the Corporation Counsel, to enter into and execute First Amendments to provide legal services as Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutors to: (1) Gracia Robert Montilus, d/b/a GRM Legal Works, LLC, in the amount of $45,000.00; (2) Evelyn Akushie-Onyeani, Esq., d/b/a Onyeani Law Firm, LLC, in the amount of $21,000.00; (3) The Law Office of Gina DeVito, LLC, in the amount of $4,500.00; and (4) The Law Office of Connie Bentley McGhee, in the amount of $28,500.00, by increasing the total Special Municipal Per Diem Prosecutor’s budget by $99,000.00, for a total amount not to exceed $234,000.00 for the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021, to cover all outstanding legal bills through the end of 2021.