Blair County plans to hire new solicitor

Commissioners to consider agreement with Pittsburgh firm

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Blair County leaders are on the verge of taking actions that will assign the bulk of the county's legal work to a Pittsburgh law firm, thereby ending decades of relying on Hollidaysburg attorneys for legal advice.

Commissioners Dave Kessling, Amy Webster and Laura Burke, who meet at 1 p.m. today at the Courthouse, are expected to review and consider an agreement for legal services with Gabriel Fera PC of Pittsburgh.

If the agreement is approved, then attorneys with the Pittsburgh firm will take over tasks currently handled by solicitor Nathan Karn and assistant solicitor Jeff Muriceak of Evey Black Attorneys LLC of Hollidaysburg.

Gabriel Fera PC will also be expected to take on county labor and employment matters now handled by the Harrisburg-based McNees Wallace and Nurick and prison matters assigned to Campbell Durant, a law firm with offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Kessling, who became the commissioners board chairman in January, said the change is expected to reduce the county's combined legal costs that are now exceeding $500,000 annually.

"There's a significant cost savings to be realized by making this change," Kessling said. "We're going to be able to put almost everything under one umbrella."

The county's proposed agreement with Gabriel Fera lists four hourly rates that the county will pay, based on legal expertise or research, at a maximum cost of $150,000 through the end of 2024, plus out-of-pocket expenses.

Commissioners Burke and Webster, who have worked with Karn and Muriceak for the last four years, said the pending change is purely financial and reflects no dissatisfaction with their services.

"This was very much fiscally driven," Burke said.

Webster agreed and said her desire is to spend less.

"We're always looking at how we can spend the taxpayers' dollars more frugally and this seemed like a good direction to go," Webster said.

Karn, who has been the county's solicitor since February 2007, advised the Mirror on Monday that he and assistant solicitor Muriceak wouldn't be commenting on the commissioners' action.

Prior to becoming solicitor in 2007, Karn held the assistant solicitor position for seven years and worked with solicitor Michael Dorezas, who succeeded longtime solicitor Merle K. Evey, who retired at the end of 2000. Evey became solicitor in 1978 upon the death of his former law partner, Marion Patterson, who is believed to have become county solicitor in 1966.

Karn, during his time as solicitor, worked with commissioners and county personnel on efforts that included election management, the sale of Valley View Home, reassessment preparations and the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Nathan has been a dedicated public servant," Burke said. "And he certainly wasn't doing the job for pay."

Karn's current salary as solicitor is $60,373 and Muriceak, as assistant solicitor, is $21,960 annually. But Kessling said their part-time positions also include health insurance and pension benefits, so the total cost to the county is about $163,000 annually.

The rest of the county's $500,000 in legal costs, Kessling said, is attributable to the county's use of additional law firms to address labor matters, prisons issues and other matters that Karn's office doesn't handle.

Gabriel Fera, on its website, describes itself as a legal firm with personnel to serve as county and municipal solicitors, with expertise in labor land, employment law, land use, litigation and municipal law.

Under the proposed agreement, commissioners said they do not expect Gabriel Fera to assign an attorney to regularly travel to Blair County for their public meetings. But they said they believe they could ask, if needed, or arrange for participation by telephone. Karn, whose office is a block away from the courthouse, currently attends the commissioners' workshop meetings on Tuesdays but not their business meetings on Thursdays.

"Even on Tuesday, it's rare that we ask (Karn) questions and put him on the spot," Webster said. "For most of our correspondence with him, we'd pick up the phone or send an email. And we'll be able to do that with this firm."