Below is the response from the Board of Education to this complaint.
Note that the Board used the Venable LLP law firm to write this response to the Open Meetings Act Compliance Board. That is the same law firm that later stated "outside counsel did not uncover evidence of intentional action to improperly use credit cards for personal expenses."
In the Board of Education's response they contend that the credit card committee is not subject to the Maryland Open Meetings Act requirements. Yet, the Board of Education notes in the final paragraph of this response that meetings of the credit card committee have now been opened up to the public.
Does the BOE pay Venable LLP by the job or under a yearly contract?
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DeleteWOW! The billable hours must be a sweet deal for Venable LLP! Typically they bill at $500 to $600 per hour (court time, office prep, travel time, etc.) plus legal staffer time at $200+ per hour. I would LOVE to know the MCPS legal bill per year for BOTH out-sourced law firms and in-house attorneys (cost of salaries, support and overhead).
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