Things you should know

Thanks to some sleuthy work by another unnamed blogger (at his/her bequest) we now learn that the law firms Nagin is contracting with city cash, donated to his last mayoral campaign.

Gordon Arata must have been anticipating a Nagin debacle back in 2006:

By the by, the law firm of Gordon Arata has contributed $15,000 to Nagin:

Candidate/Committee Report Type Description (Loan Interest Rate) Date Amount
Source Address City ST Zip
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray Nagin 40G CONTRIB 02/16/2002 5000.00
Gordon Arata McCollam Et al 201 St Charles 40th Floor New Orleans LA 70170
Ray Nagin SPCL CONTRIB 02/16/2002 5000.00
Gordon Arata McCollam Et al 201 St Charles 40th Floor New Orleans LA 70170
Ray Nagin 30P CONTRIB 12/24/2001 2500.00
GordonArataMcCollam etc..LLP 201 St.Charles 40th Fl New Orleans LA 70170
Ray Nagin 180P CONTRIB 04/06/2005 2500.00
Gordon Arata McCollam et al 201 St Charles Ave 40th Floor New Orleans LA 70170

Total Amounts (4 records) 15000.00

Beveridge must have as well:

Beveridge has given $4500:

Candidate/Committee Report Type Description (Loan Interest Rate) Date Amount
Source Address City ST Zip
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ray Nagin 180P CONTRIB 06/20/2005 2500.00
Beveridge & Diamond P.C. 1350 I Street NW Suite 700 Washington DC 20005
Ray Nagin 40G CONTRIB 02/28/2002 1000.00
Beveridge & Diamond P.C. 1350 I Street NW Suite 700 Washington DC 20005
Ray Nagin SPCL CONTRIB 02/28/2002 1000.00
Beveridge & Diamond P.C. 1350 I Street NW Suite 700 Washington DC 20005

Total Amounts (3 records) 4500.00

The city also seems to be overpaying on the legal contract:

Here's the rates from the contract:

Michael Botnick $250.00/hr

Associate(s) $175.00/hr

A legal services signed by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority - East with Gordon Arata included the following rates:

http://www.slfpae.com/minutes/09June18%20SLFPA-E%20Board%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf

WHEREAS,

Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLP proposes to

use the following staff to perform services under this contract:

Michael E. Botnick – 34 years experience - $200 per hour

Scott A. O’Connor – 20 years experience - $200 per hour

C. Peck Hayne, Jr. – 22 years experience - $200 per hour

Loulan Pitre – 23 years experience - $200 per hour

Steve Copley – 25 years experience - $200 per hour

Blake G. Arata – 56 years experience - $200 per hour

John M. McCollam – 50 years experience - $200 per hour

Aimee Williams Hebert – 11 years experience - $200 per hour

Sara E. Mouledoux – 6 years experience - $150 per hour

Abaigeal Van Deerlin – 3 years experience - $125 per hour

Dana Dupre – 2 years experience - $100 per hour

Wesley W. Sharples – 2 years experience - $100 per hour

Benjamin S. Allums – 2 years experience - $100 per hour

Nice sleuthing, sir/mam.