Council hires assistant city attorney

The City of Rhinelander has a new assistant city attorney. As of Dec. 1, local lawyer Lindsay Erickson will handle the prosecution of traffic and municipal ordinance violations.

The Common Council approved the new hire during its Nov. 11 meeting.

According to city administrator Patrick Reagan, city attorney Steve Sorenson has been handling municipal and traffic prosecutions since attorney Steve Michlig decided to retire earlier this year. However, because Sorenson is not based in Rhinelander, this is not a cost-effective arrangement.

“The cost was just going to get ridiculous for me to drive up here to do trials,” Sorenson told the council.

A formal request for proposals for legal services yielded no takers but Erickson recently put together a proposal that Reagan said both Sorenson and Rhinelander Police Chief Lloyd Gauthier found acceptable. 

“As you are aware, I am a local attorney to Rhinelander with an office in the beautiful downtown area,” Erickson wrote in her proposal. “I am in the old Associated Bank building on the corner of Davenport and Stevens Streets, in the corner office on the ground level. I have been a practicing attorney in the area since I passed the bar exam and was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in April of 2004. I have previously served multiple municipalities as their City Attorney and have over 15 years of doing so. I am very familiar with the laws, rules, regulations, and operating procedures of the City of Rhinelander, more particularly the Rhinelander Police Department. I know Chief Gauthier, along with many officers and have good working relationships with all of them. I am confident I can work well with the City and the Police Department to create a well running procedure for traffic and municipal citations and the prosecution thereof. Since my office is right downtown, I could easily schedule time with defendants for Pre Trial Conferences at my office, or an officer could pop in and ask a question if needed.”

 “I look forward to the opportunity to work for and with the people of a city I call home,” she added.

“We’re all satisfied that she can do this job,” Reagan told the alderpersons. “We’re looking at $2,000 a month flat fee for doing this work.”

This arrangement will help reduce legal expenses, which has been identified as a need, Mayor Kris Hanus added.

The resolution received unanimous approval after Sorenson offered his personal assurance that he will keep an eye on things to ensure a smooth transition.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected]