Traverse City weighs five law firms for city attorney contract

Five law firms are competing for the legal job that helps steer Traverse City’s ordinances, contracts, lawsuits and public-meeting advice, as the city prepares for Lauren Trible-Laucht’s departure.

Secrest Wardle, The Kelly Firm, Cumming, McClory, Davis and Acho, Foster Swift and Bodman all submitted proposals for the city attorney contract. The hourly rates in those bids range from $190 to $360, giving the City Commission a wide spread to weigh as it considers cost against the depth of municipal experience it wants on the city’s legal side.

Trible-Laucht submitted the proposals and a scoring rubric in a May 28 memo to commissioners, setting up the next step in a public selection process. The commission was expected to decide which firms to interview before any final award, rather than extending the current arrangement without review.

The stakes are larger than a routine vendor decision. The City Attorney’s Office says the attorney serves at the pleasure of the City Commission for an indefinite term and acts as the city’s chief legal advisor to commissioners, the city manager, officers and employees. The office drafts and reviews ordinances, agreements, legal opinions, contracts, deeds, leases, pleadings and other legal documents, and it handles civil litigation, administrative tribunals and prosecutes violations of the Traverse City Code when asked.

That means the next city attorney will help shape how Traverse City handles disputes, advises on controversial votes and manages risk that can translate directly into legal bills for taxpayers. A lower hourly rate may not produce the lowest total cost if a firm is less responsive, less experienced in municipal law or slower to resolve matters that end up in court.

The transition comes after the city announced on March 24, 2026, that Trible-Laucht had resigned, effective in June 2026, after serving since Oct. 31, 2011. City officials said she gave the 90-day notice required by her contract and that 100% of the appellate matters she handled were decided unanimously in the city’s favor. Mayor Amy Shamroe called her a “steadfast and trusted City Attorney” and cited her leadership in municipal legal organizations.

Traverse City’s regular commission meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of each month at 7 p.m. in the Governmental Center at 400 Boardman Avenue, and the city’s meeting portal shows those meetings are livestreamed and archived. That makes the attorney decision one of the most visible personnel choices the commission will make this year, with consequences that will reach well beyond a single contract cycle.