The Blair County commissioners recently decided to terminate their relationship with the local law firm of Evey Black Attorneys, LLC, a relationship which spanned over five decades.

In an Altoona Mirror article dated March 13, 2024, Commissioner Board Chair Dave Kessling is reported to have said the switch to a Pittsburgh-based law firm is to save money and because he felt no local firm could handle the work.

The Blair County Bar Association takes issue at the way in which the decision to outsource legal services to an out-of-county law firm was made and the perception that local law firms cannot handle the work.

There are 119 members in the Blair County Bar Association.

Of those members, several serve as solicitors to our townships, cities and boroughs, as well as municipal authorities and boards. Several also serve as legal counsel to neighboring counties and row offices.

We have local attorneys who are extremely knowledgeable in the fields of labor and employment law and municipal law.

These local attorneys were stripped of the opportunity to submit a proposal for the positions.

By the commissioners failing to offer the opportunity for local law firms to submit proposals for the legal counsel positions, they will likely incur more legal fees than what they are currently paying. It is likely local attorneys would have underbid the Pittsburgh-based firm of Gabriel Fera PC if given the chance.

According to the March 13 article, Gabriel Fera PC has assured the commissioners they will not charge more than $150,000 for the solicitor services for the remainder of 2024, which equates to nine months. There is no assurance the charges will not increase exponentially in 2025.

Local attorneys are vested in our community. Our members pay property taxes on their homes and businesses.

We pay staff who are likewise members of our community. Members of the Blair County Bar Association support local sports and civic organizations.

Our members serve as little league coaches, soup kitchen volunteers, Sunday School teachers, community event organizers and many other volunteer roles within our community.

Further, members of our bar association regularly serve as court appointees in complicated court cases for indigent clients and as mediators, arbitrators and hearing officers, and in doing so free up valuable court resources.

The same cannot be said of Gabriel Fera PC.

The Blair County Bar Association respectfully requests that the Blair County commissioners reconsider their decision to enter into an attorney/client relationship with Gabriel Fera PC.

We ask that local attorneys be given the opportunity to submit proposals for the positions and be considered.

If the commissioners have already entered into a contract with Gabriel Fera PC we ask that when it expires local attorneys be given the opportunity to submit proposals for the positions.

We ask that the Blair County commissioners consider staying local and supporting our Blair County community with the same gusto that the members of the Blair County Bar Association do.

Traci L. Naugle, Esquire, is president of the Blair County Bar Association.