Elon’s town council generally agreed this week to keep the law firm that has represented the municipality over the past several years, Poyner Spruill, although the primary attorney who has helped the town will change.
Town manager Richard Roedner told the council Monday night that Bob Hagemann “wants to move into semi-retirement,” and had notified the town he would be stepping aside from his representation of the town. Hagemann had been a long-serving municipal attorney, having worked 24 years in the city of Charlotte’s legal office, seven of those as the city attorney, before joining the Poyner Spruill firm in 2019.
The firm sent a proposal to have another partner in the firm, Nick Tosco, represent the town, with assistance from two more junior attorneys, Evan Lee and Tia Overway. Hagemann, who has become “of counsel” with the firm, will also be available for consultations, as will Colin McGrath, another partner in the firm who specializes in zoning and real estate matters.
Mayor pro tem Monti Allison wondered aloud whether Hagemann’s departure provided an opportunity for the town to seek out other possible legal representation.
But the general consensus was that there hadn’t been much interest from any local attorney the last time the municipality had to fill its state-mandated legal post and since the council was generally well satisfied with the representation from the firm, the town would just retain the same firm, with different individuals providing the specific legal representation.
It was noted that while the town’s new attorneys live in Salisbury and Charlotte, most of the legal consultation is done by town staff via phone or email. The council has rarely, though occasionally, had Hagemann physically present at its meetings, usually when hotly-contested rezoning requests were on the agenda.
The town will be charged $325 per hour for a partner in the firm, $225 for associates, and $150 for a paralegal.
