Pierce Coleman PLLC, a Scottsdale-based law firm inthat has worked for the city of Cottonwood as its temporary official law firm, or as the interim legal counsel when the city was without its own in-house city attorney or when municipal matters requires outside legal counsel, has quit working for the city of Cottonwood, effective immediately on Wednesday, Jan. 10, following comments by Cottonwood City Council members on a work session on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
With the immediate resignation of Cottonwood City Attorney Jenny Winkler on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 9, the city is currently without any legal counsel.
“… It appears to us that these council members … are bent on creating a narrative to sully the good name of our firm to satisfy their personal agendas.”
from the Pierce Coleman PLLC letter to the Cottonwood City Council, Jan. 9, 2024
Pierce Coleman attorneys formally serve as the contracted city or town attorneys for 15 municipalities in Arizona. In that capacity, Pierce Coleman’s lawuers officially represent these municipalities, providing all of the legal services required of the municipality’s attorney as set forth in its city code or town code and state law.
“The Pierce Coleman attorneys have decades of combined experience serving either as contracted city or town attorneys, as in-house city attorneys, or as general counsel to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns,” the firm stated.
In the letter by law firm partners Justin Pierce and Steve Coleman, they wrote to the Cottonwood City Council, “We were disappointed to learn that during the January 9, 2024 City Council work session, two council members made misrepresentations regarding our firm by incorrectly stating that we are a defendant in a pending legal claim.
“Based on this misperception, they expressed discomfort in continuing to use our firm for general municipal law services.
“To set the record straight, Pierce Coleman PLLC is not a defendant in any pending legal claim — nor would our firm logically be a defendant in an employment claim by a former employee where our firm represents the employer, which is presumably the ‘claim’ that the councilmembers were referring to.
“Based on the totality of the discussion, it appears to us that these council members — and perhaps others — are bent on creating a narrative to sully the good name of our firm to satisfy their personal agendas.
“To further set the record straight, it is perhaps important for the other members of council, who may not know the extent of the expertise of our firm, to be informed that we are generally considered the go-to firm in Arizona for general municipal law as well as employment law matters.
“In fact, since the firm’s inception nearly nine years ago, Pierce Coleman has been the exclusive employment law provider for the member municipalities – including Cottonwood of the Arizona Municipal Risk Retention Pool.
“Additionally, for many years now the firm has been recognized as a Tier 1 Law Firm in the relatively small list of law firms with the ‘Best Law Firm’ designation from U.S. News and World Report, with many of the firm’s lawyers honored in Super Lawyers as well as Best Lawyers in America.
“Moreover, for several years the firm’s lawyers have represented multiple Arizona municipalities — currently 15 — as those municipalities’ contracted city or town attorney.
“Among other experience factors, our attorneys include a former in-house city attorney, an in-house deputy county attorney, the former general counsel to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, and two recent past presidents of the Arizona City Attorney Association.
“As is evident, the firm’s lawyers are highly experienced and qualified, and able to handle everything from open meeting law, conflict of interest, procurement, real estate, personnel and litigation issues, contract creation and review, ordinance and resolution creation and review, to just the regular day-to-day questions that municipalities face.
“Combined, the firm’s lawyers have over 100 years of legal experience in these areas of law.
“In fact, our firm’s combined experience and expertise in the areas most regularly encountered by municipalities exceeds any other lawyer or firm in the state.
“From small municipalities to the largest in the state — including Phoenix — when the stakes are the highest and the legal issues matter the most, Pierce Coleman is regularly engaged to represent the interests of those municipalities.
“With that backdrop, we are unfortunately compelled, effective immediately, to terminate our agreement for general municipal law services with the city of Cottonwood.
“Of course, to the extent there are pending deadlines in matters that have been assigned to us, we will continue to work on such matters until we receive notice that alternative counsel has been retained and we are able to transition those matters. We will also take all other necessary steps to avoid causing any prejudice to the City in those matters.
“Additionally, we will continue to be involved in employment-related matters as assigned to us by the AMRRP.
“We appreciated the opportunity to serve the city. However, we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality representation in the area of municipal law and we do not feel that we can continue under the current circumstances in which false allegations about our firm have been made in public.
“In the event of changed conditions that alleviate the issues described above, we will be happy to revisit a future working relationship with Cottonwood in the area of municipal law services. In the meantime, we wish you the best of luck.”
“Very truly yours,
“Justin S. Pierce
“Stephen B. Coleman
“For the Firm”
