A suggestion from Town Administrator Mark Andrews to change the town's lawyers was met with mixed emotions from the Board of Selectmen Tuesday, which opted to hold interviews with lawyers to determine if the town could get a better deal on legal representation.

Wareham requested bids for new legal representation in February, and received three inquiries from law firms Blatman Bobrowski & Mead LLC, Miyares and Harrington LLP, and current counsel Kopelman and Paige, which has represented the town for more than 20 years.

Andrews told the Selectmen that Blatman Bobrowski & Mead would charge an estimated $216,000 with the exception of some legal fees. Miyares and Harrington would charge $100,000 and Kopelman and Paige, priced the bill at $114,000. The latter two bids included fees that would be extra for Blatman Bobrowski & Mead.

Town Counsel provides legal support and representation for the town, including its officials, boards, and commissions. Town Counsel is responsible for representing the town in a variety of matters such as employment disciplinary appeals, personal injury and/or property damage cases and claims, zoning appeals, and tax assessment appeals.

While Kopelman and Paige is Wareham’s current legal representative, Andrews often consults with Rick Bowen, a former attorney with Kopelman and Paige, who now works for Blatman Bobrowski & Mead. Andrews believes Blatman Bobrowski & Mead is the firm for the job and cited his professional track record with Bowen.

Bowen recently advised Andrews and the Board of Selectmen during an emergency meeting about a broken sewer pipe that has been in danger of bursting in Onset.

“He is the hub of legal activity,” Andrews said about Bowen. “He can be reached 24/7.”

Selectman Chair Jane Donahue agreed the Town Administrator’s relationship with counsel and the comfort of having that person on-call are important criteria in choosing representation.

“We need to look at qualitative versus quantitative, and that means price,” she said.

Selectman Cara Winslow voiced concern that Andrews was willing to pay more than $100,000 on legal services to keep Bowen as lead counsel.

“I support an interview process,” Winslow stated.

Her apprehension was felt by other members of the board, including Selectman Brenda Eckstrom, who said she was in favor of the interviews.

Given the tight budget, price was a concern for all of the Selectmen.

“For $100,000, I’ll be comfortable with anybody,” Selectman Walter Cruz joked.

The Selectmen and Andrews hope to conduct interviews with all three firms on Wednesday, March 23 and Thursday, March 24 to narrow down the applicants.The interviews will be open to the public.

We will update this story with the times and locations of the interviews when that information becomes available.