as reported last week.  Click here to read last week’s story. In summary: Yates filed a lawsuit in May 2024 claiming he was terminated without cause and the vote was improper. The court ruled that he was not terminated but rather his contract was not renewed.

The remaining question: When voting 3-2 to not renew, Yates argued that Councilman Henry Rosenthal should have recused himself, leaving a 2-2 vote when a majority would be required for non-renewal.

We reported that while the Yates lawsuit was covered by Village insurance, the Village had exceeded their $100,000 limit and therefore the Village is responsible for the total cost any remaining legal work.  

Village Attorney John Quick felt we needed to explain that the $100,000 limit was not for this single lawsuit, but for a cumulative amount spread amongst multiple cases.

The fact remains: now the Village is responsible for the Yates legal costs and are represented by both trial attorney Erica Hausdorff of Weiss Serota along with the attorney hired by the insurance company, Eric Stettin, also of Weiss Serota.

$28,290 to date in Village legal costs: The Village has been invoiced $28,290.02 by Weiss Serota for the Yates lawsuit from 2024 through September 2026. There will be additional cost at the increased rate of $325/hour for the trial, trial preparation, and pending brief that is yet to be billed from Oct 1 on.

Closing statements are due from Yates and Village by the close of business Nov 6. The judge will then rule shortly thereafter.

Does this legal cost signal the need to review the $100,000 threshold in the insurance policy?