Note the date on this Legal Service Agreement between North Idaho College and Lyons O’Dowd, January 29th of 2021.
Was this in response to the NIC Board of Trustee meeting a few days earlier? Rumor has it that there hasn’t been this kind of agreement for years, so why the need now?
#3 in the agreement is concerning. “North Idaho College will identify administrators and other North Idaho College employees who are authorized by the NIC President and Vice-Presidents to request legal services. NIC agrees to pay Lyons O’Dowd for authorized legal service…”
Who sets the budget for North Idaho College? I would assume it is the Board of Trustees and the NIC President. So why is the Board of Trustees left out of the agreement? Is this standard procedure?
I would think if the Board of Trustees sets the budget that pays Lyons O’Dowd, then shouldn’t they be a party to this agreement? Why should they have to get authorization from NIC President MacLennan?
Then in #4 of the agreement it says legal services will be provide as requested by the Board of Trustees and as authorized by the NIC President. This confuses me. Who does Lyons O’Dowd work for? It looks like the NIC President and not the Board of Trustees? Is that standard practice.
