Town changes attorneys

#MiddleburyCT #TownAttorney #ZabelSchellenberg

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Middlebury Board of Selectmen members, left to right, Selectman Brian Shaban, First Selectwoman Jennifer Mahr and Selectman J. Paul Vance Jr. (Marjorie Needham photo)

Middlebury terminated its agreement with attorney Robert W. Smith on March 3, 2026. On March 18, the Board of Selectmen, in a 2-1 vote, appointed Barbara Schellenberg of the firm Zabel Schellenberg to serve as town attorney through the June 30, 2026, end of the current fiscal year. First Selectwoman Jennifer Mahr and Selectman Brian Shaban supported the hiring while Selectman J. Paul Vance Jr. did not. A lengthy discussion preceded the vote.

Three attorneys from the firm attended the March 18 meeting: Barbara Schellenberg, Tim Herbst and Jeremy A. Gustafson. Mahr introduced them by saying the firm was among those that reached out to her shortly after she was elected. It’s generally understood the relationship between a first selectperson and the town attorney is a personal one and there often is a change in the town attorney when there is a change in administration. She said she serves as the legal representative of the town and the town attorney’s responsibility is to advise her as that representative. She said, “That relationship has to be something I believe in and that I trust.”

Mahr said she was very impressed with Barbara, who also is the town attorney for the town of Greenwich. Mahr said she had spoken with the Greenwich town selectman and also with the town of Orange because Barbara’s firm also represents the town of Orange. Both towns highly recommended the firm.

Mahr said she thought Middlebury was at a point that it needs a deeper bench and also it currently pays a lot of specialty attorneys and if it has a firm that has more in-house experience, Middlebury won’t need to pay a retainer and then pay specialty attorney fees on top of that.

She noted she had given both Selectman Shaban and Selectman Vance the firm’s phone number so they could call the firm and ask questions but if they had additional questions they could ask them after the firm members briefly introduced themselves.

Barbara spoke first, explaining she had been doing municipal work for 25 years, working with both large and small municipalities across the state. She does litigation and appellate work along with land use. She said, “I would welcome the opportunity to work in this lovely town as well.”

Herbst said he had an interesting perspective in part because he had served as Trumbull’s first selectman. He said the firm serves the entire town regardless of who sits in the corner office. They go out of their way to avoid getting involved in politics and to provide solid legal advice to the town. He currently is the town attorney for Westbrook, Conn. He pointed out the expertise of individual members of the firm means someone can step in when needed.

Gustafson introduced himself as an associate at the firm who has land use experience. He said there is one way to provide good legal advice to a municipality and that is from a nonpartisan perspective.

Mahr then asked if the other selectman had questions. Vance chuckled and said, “Of course.” Mahr asked if he had called and asked questions ahead of time. He said he had not. Shaban said he had called. Speaking to Barbara, he said, “We had a nice conversation and I thank you for that.”

Vance said he likes to have things in writing. He said the firm sounds very impressive. He asked if it was correct that their firm reached out to Jennifer. Barbara said, “Yes, we did.”

Vance said, “I would like the opportunity to speak privately and, frankly, not in public. I would like to speak privately with anyone who is interested to give everyone a fair shot.”

He said he liked what Gustafson had said, and went on to say, “What I would really like to see is some sort of document indicating what the cost is going to be to the town of Middlebury. All I saw was a document saying the cost was going to be $350.” (Mahr corrected him with $320 an hour)

Vance asked if the cost was portal to portal or how does that work. Barbara said the firm doesn’t charge travel time for general work like coming to meetings. When they have litigation and have to travel to court, they do charge travel time.

Mahr said previously the town paid $6,500 a month and, until last month, they didn’t have a list showing how that time was spent. She said with this firm the town would only pay money when she had a question. She also said this would not change the $78,000 for legal services listed in the proposed 2026-2027 budget.

Barbara said the firm has always been very good about working within municipal budgets. She said she understands how municipal budgets work. One thing she has to do for Greenwich is prepare their in-house legal department annual budget.

Vance asked if a contract was prepared. Barbara said, “No, if we are appointed then we will prepare a retainer agreement. Herbst explained that, as Westbrook’s attorney, he meets with various town officials to lay out the legal budget and explain it and to help estimate what the town’s legal needs will be in the upcoming year.

Shaban then said he thought the firm seemed very professional and came with great recommendations but he asked Mahr what other firms she considered. She said she had also considered attorney Jesse Langer’s firm, and she had considered him for Shaban’s position because it would have given the town in-house experience. She said she also considered Harris Beech Murtha.

Vance asked about FOI work and questions from department heads or selectmen. Barbara said all are welcome to call the firm, and the firm does a lot of FOI work.

Vance said he personally would like to see a contract, but the selectmen need to talk to the Board of Finance chair because, “If we don’t have the money, you don’t want to work for us, I’m sure.”

Mahr made a motion to appoint Barbara Schellenberg and Zabel Schellenberg through June 30, 2026, pointing out the money was in the budget and the appointment was for three months.

Vance said the town still has an attorney. Mahr said Dana D’Angelo is the town’s land use attorney. Vance asked if she couldn’t answer questions for now. Mahr said this would be outside of D’Angelo’s area of expertise.

Mahr asked for a second on her motion. Shaban, after seconding her motion, said he had thought the attorneys were very capable but, “I don’t usually go to a restaurant that serves one item on the menu and pick the one item on the menu. Is there any way we can reach out and maybe see if there’s other law firms in town and see what they offer?”

Mahr said she had two responses. The first was perhaps that’s necessary for the town’s permanent attorneys, but questioned whether the selectmen had the time to do that now. She said hiring the firm is what she needs and what the town needs right now. Second, as Vance chuckled, she said she was the primary client, she did the necessary homework, she had worked with a number of attorneys over the past two years so she’s not a newbie as far as this is concerned, and she also has the academic background to understand what she needs and this is what she is recommending for the good of the town. She said, “To move this through for the next three months, the two of you need to get on board and push this through.”

Shaban said she was asking for his name on it as well, and she agreed. She said if it didn’t work out, she was happy to go back to the drafting board.

Shaban asked if there were reasons she couldn’t see if there weren’t law firms in town who could do this. She said there were because there were a number of issues that were not properly handled leading up to this point that need immediate attention.

Vance said he thought there was not much work that needed to be done over the next three or four months and asked if he had misunderstood. Mahr said if he was talking about regulatory work, he was correct. Other things that demand immediate attention have come up over the past two weeks. Vance said he was not aware of those things. Mahr said she knew he was not, and it was her job as the first selectwoman to represent the town and make sure we are following the law. She said the selectmen need to take her at face value and understand …

Vance interrupted saying, “We understand, and we are representing all the people.” He said he wanted to be sure they were doing it correctly.

Herbst spoke up, saying, “If, for any reason, we don’t meet your expectations, if you are not happy with us, then fire us.” He said when he was a first selectman, he appointed the town attorney directly. He said he knew how important it was to a first selectman to have counsel they could trust who would give them good advice. He said if the firm didn’t meet expectations in three months, they would not be offended if the town terminated the agreement.

Vance said he appreciated that statement, but he heard what Shaban was saying and asked “Did we reach out to local attorneys … in the Greater Waterbury area, talk to other firms, talk to other mayors? I’ll bet we have not.”

Vance said his concern was whether they would talk to him if he picked up the phone and called. He said he was hearing Mahr was the legal head of the town, and she is, but department heads, the Board of Finance and others need quick answers.

Barbara started to respond, but Mahr interrupted, saying, “In the Charter it really talks about all those relationships and all those questions from those boards funnel through my office to the town attorney. So there is a chain of command. And while I appreciate your concerns, you cannot go around me to do a job that is not your job to do. It’s my job to be the legal representative.”

“So we should just sit back and just follow your lead,” said Vance.

“You should,” Mahr responded. “For these three months you should, and that is what I was elected to do. I was elected to do the job the people gave me to do.”

Vance said, “I feel if you have questions, you should get answers to the questions.”

Mahr turned to Vance and asked him if he called the firm, saying, “I gave you everyone’s phone number. Did you call them?” He said he had done some research on the firm but still needed to speak to another department. Vance said he was very pleased with what he heard, but he just wanted to be sure what they were doing was for the people of the town and they could afford it.

The three attorneys offered assurances to Vance. Vance then brought up lawsuits against the town and asked if the firm would represent the town on these cases. Barbara said, “Certainly” and explained she currently does that with Greenwich.

At this point, the discussion had exceeded 30 minutes. Mahr called the question. Mahr voted “Aye.” Shaban started discussing the issue, and Mahr said, “Calling the question means there is no more discussion.” Again she called for a vote, asking “All those in favor,” and saying “Aye.” After a brief silence, she said, “Those opposed.” Vance responded, “No.”

Mahr turned to Shaban and asked, “Do you have an answer?” After a brief pause, Shaban said, “I’m going to vote ‘yes’ because I believe you should have legal counsel moving forward for the next three months.” Mahr thanked him and announced the motion passed.