Wellington Faces Major Legal Challenges Without Attorney On Board

 By Mitra Malek - Palm Beach Post - Sun Nov. 25, 2012

Lawsuits have piled up against Wellington since early this year, and the person qualified to handle them won’t be doing that soon.

The village council fired its attorney for the past decade, Jeff Kurtz, an ax that appeared ready to fall for months.

An interim attorney will take over in two weeks — but the council has no plan beyond that.

“I would like to say that this is borderline reckless,” Vice Mayor Howard Coates said. “But I can’t say it because I happen to believe that it’s just outright reckless.”

The council on Sept. 11 had voted to hire a consultant to look at whether it makes more sense to continue contracting legal services or bring an attorney in-house.

That study hasn’t been completed though, nor had it even started when the council on Nov. 13 voted to execute a 30-day termination clause in the contract Kurtz’s law firm has with Wellington.

That didn’t matter to Councilman Matt Willhite, who for months has been pushing for the village to get an in-house attorney.

“This doesn’t come up as a surprise to Mr. Kurtz; I’ve spoken to him privately in his office,” Willhite said before the recent vote. “I think we’re to the point where things just aren’t meshing and molding together. There have been some requirements made that have been requested and they haven’t been obligated.”

Willhite, Mayor Bob Margolis and Councilman John Greene voted to end a contract with the Law Offices of Glen J. Torcivia & Associates, where Kurtz is a partner. Torcivia has agreed to take over as interim attorney.

Margolis, who also served on the council earlier in Kurtz’s tenure said the “issues” he’s had pertain to “public records requests and timely updates, and there are a number of them.”

Coates, a lawyer himself, said other council members hadn’t shared clear reasons to fire Kurtz — especially without solid plans on where to go from there.

“Just the fact that one council member or two council members may be unhappy with him is just not enough for me,” Coates said. “It will put us in an incredibly vulnerable position on these pending litigation matters. And Kurtz has advised us well on them.”

The village spent about $460,000 last fiscal year on legal services, and another $670,000 on major litigation.

It will take months for a new attorney up to speed on Wellington’s history and legal issues. A University of Notre Dame graduate who earned his law degree at Widener University, Kurtz has been the attorney for Wellington and its Acme Improvement District since 2003.

“There is no clean break,” Village Manager Paul Schofield said. “It’s not: Today we have one attorney, tomorrow we have another.”

Kurtz didn’t return a call for comment. Before the recent vote he told the council he would share his knowledge to ensure nothing is misplaced.

“It seemed to be they just didn’t want Jeff Kurtz,” Councilwoman Anne Gerwig said. “You’re going to have to transfer knowledge to whomever we pick next. To me it was just adding another layer of money for taxpayers.”