Article archive / April 1, 2016
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 4. Source pages: 8.
In February the state psychology board’s new Executive Director, Ms. Jaime Monic, alerted board members that one of the legal contractors, Mr. James Raines, had invoices amounting to $66,597. Monic told the members she asked Mr. Raines to cease work until further notice. This according to the February minutes posted March 18.
Minutes noted: “The Board reviewed the legal contract with Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLC (BSWLLC) in conjunction with invoices billed to date. Ms. Monic reported that upon her review she requested that Mr. Raines cease work on any case until further notice. With current invoices totaling $66,597.42, Dr. Burnett moved to amend BSWLLC’s contract to an amount not to exceed $68,000. The motion passed by unanimous roll call vote of the members present.”
Mr. Raines is one of the several legal contractors for the psychology board. Information gathered last year by the Times indicated that his contract was for $15,000. His firm is Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson. However, current state records do not appear to list any current information about the firm’s contract.
The board might look to licensees to cover their budget problems. Minutes from January note: “A draft budget for 2016-17 was provided for review. The Board discussed the proposed budget in conjunction with the current financials and agreed to continue to review potential revenue sources (including potentially raising renewal fees and charging a convenience fee to renew online) and expenditures in order to continue to carry out its duties.”
The psychology board, under the past management of the last few years, seems to have increased its use of legal services.
In March 2015 the Times asked then Executive Director, Ms. Kelly Parker to examine information about investigations, legal fees, and attorneys employed by the board. Parker declined the request to directly examine public records, and said, “I am invoking our right to have your request and responsive documents reviewed by legal counsel prior to disclosure.” Then in an April 2015 written response Parker said the board had no internal policies and no contracts to provide. She provided resumes from the attorneys’ websites. She also said there was no resume for herself.
According to government records at that time, Taylor Porter had a contract of $15,000 and Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, for Mr. Raines, also had a contract for $15,000. Another contract with McGlinchey, Stafford, and Lang, for $19K was listed with the state. This appeared to be the contract for a legislative consultant.
While legal fees may likely be over $100,000 for 2015, it is the same year that the board may have confused the time limits for investigations, called “prescription.” (See Times Vol 6 No 10, “Board May Have Botched Time Limits on Complaints.”)
It is not clear why the higher legal fees have been needed. The board has a low disciplinary rate, 8 to 9 actions over the last five years. However, the board has an unusual pattern of discipline actions, when compared to other state boards. (See Times investigative report, “Secret Life of Board Complaints,” Vol 6, Nos 10 & 12.)
At the same time attorney fees have risen to perhaps over $100,000, the consulting psychologist who is part of the investigations team is paid a current fee of $4,999 per year, and only $4,000 previously. And he is paid by the case, not hour.
RIGHT: Dr. Alicia Pelligrin states her views at LSBEP. The board’s attorney, Mr. Lloyd Lunceford is looking on. Legal fees for 2015 were high for the psychology board but total disciplinary actions were average.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.