Contracting Legal Services in Orland Park

Selecting and vetting legal services for a community like Orland Park is serious business. As a rule, legal vendors may be responding to an RFP (Request for Proposal) and are evaluated according to the needs of the community. The Board of Trustees will weigh a number of factors such as price, references, experience, etc.

This has been done for positions such as hearing officer (2021-0190), prosecutor (2020-0572), and “as needed” legal services (2023-0563) or (2024-0448).

The one glaring exception is Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins Ltd., the village’s general legal counsel.

A recent Freedom of Information request that I made to the village asking for any enabling resolutions, ordinances, and/or contracts regarding KTJ came back with “The village has no responsive records.”

In a way this was true and in a way it wasn’t.

The FOIA officer was unable to unearth anything approaching what is required of other legal vendors in the way of a contract. However, there was a resolution naming, or re-naming KTJ as the Property Tax Appeal Board intervenor (2024-0565 and 2024-2406).

So, where is the contract between the village of Orland Park and the primary legal counsel, Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins?

That’s a really good question.

First, how long has KTJ served the village?

Nobody in the village has ever pinpointed a start date for me. A little research on my part revealed that they were first engaged in August of 1991.

To put that into perspective, that’s when the Worldwide Web became available, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and the Bulls won their first championship.

The village had about 23,000 fewer residents than today.

Did the village have a contract with KTJ back then?

I assume so. A newspaper article from the time identified the contract rates.

KTJ charged $40 per hour for work done by law clerks, $45 per hour for work done by paralegals, $110 per hour for work done by a partner, and $95 per hour for work done by an associate.

Were later resolutions written and approved?

No one with any knowledge of the process can say. No documents were forthcoming. The village didn’t consistently start posting meeting minutes on their website until 2011. There was nothing after 2011 and a contract like this should be up for review before the fiscal year begins.

Why is this a problem?

Imagine you hire the builder who built your home nearly 35 years ago, and you want them to build a room addition and remodel your kitchen. Would you want a contract with timeframes, labor and material costs, and expectations or would you just hope that the final bill will fit your budget when and if they ever finished?

Whether or not KTJ is doing stellar legal work or not, the village Orland Park pays them a lot of money each year…without a contract.

How much is a lot?

Tinley Park, our neighbor to the south, has a similar population count. They maintain about 40 parks; we have about 60. They have about 150 police officers; we have about 100. While each community has different challenges, demographically they are similar enough for comparison.

Tinley Park spent about $233,000 on various legal fees over a five-month period in 2024. Orland Park spent over $721,000 just on KTJ over the same period.

It seems like a lot money for a community our size.

In fact, Orland Park has spent nearly $1.2 million dollars for KTJ’s services in 2024…without a contract or a contract anyone cares to produce.

They spent almost $860,000 in 2023, nearly $930,000 in 2022…and on and on.

Where is the oversight?

The invoices appear and we…just pay them. At what rates? Clerk rates? Associate rates? Partner rates?

Why do these other law firms and lawyers need a resolution, but KTJ doesn’t?

So, why haven’t I brought this up to the BOT?

I suppose it’s the same reason that I don’t periodically stop by the local fire department and remind them that if they should see smoke and flames pouring out of a house, they should do their best to put it out.

This is the board’s job. This is why they ran for office. This is why we elect them.

To be sure, there will be those who will want to blame previous mayors and boards over this. As a resident for 25 years, I can't worry about what happened in the 1990s. I’m only interested in the here and now...and going forward.

This current Board of Trustees hasn’t seen fit to change it or even question it…in eight years.

Here’s the thing. When I used to photograph the Diaper Dash for the village, a $200 job, I had to have a contract.

The village has been spending millions on a law firm vendor over the years with absolutely no safeguards. We appear to be at the mercy of whatever invoices they submit.

Is that being a good steward with taxpayer money?

This is, after all, our money.