Dear Saddle River School District,

This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form.

Records Requested:
All attorney bills & invoices pertaining to legal services provided to the Saddle River Board of Education. The time frame for the requested documents is from June 1, 2023, through and including the entire month of November, 2023.

Common Law: Under common law, I seek access to the requested documents to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds by the Saddle River School District.his request is grounded in the fundamental public right to access governmental records, which promotes accountability and transparency in public entities. By scrutinizing the financial expenditures on legal services, stakeholders such as taxpayers and community members can better understand how public funds are being allocated and managed.

(1) To the extent that any such records contain personally identifiable information related to any individual student, please redact that personally identifiable information prior to disclosure.
(2) To the extent that any such records are exempted from disclosure under OPRA, and also unavailable under the common law right of access, please provide a complete Vaughn index of all such records, disclosing “sufficient detail to prove the requestor ‘with as much information as possible to use in presenting his case’ and to enable the ‘decision-maker’s review of governmental records to determine whether they contain privileged material.’” Paff v. Division of Law, 412 N.J. Super. 140, 161 (App. Div. 2010).

Regards,
Brian Hampel

Dear Kaitlyn Lawler,

Thank you for your response. I would like to clarify and narrow this OPRA request in an attempt to expedite the response. This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access.

Records Requested:
All invoices submitted by the law firm Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs, LLC to the Saddle River Board for legal services rendered from June 1, 2023, through and including the entire month of November, 2023.

I am not requesting any other documents or records at this time.

Please provide the requested invoices in a format that is readily accessible and viewable, such as PDF.

As you know, under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(e), I am entitled to immediate access to government records that pertain to the expenditure of public funds. Invoices for legal services rendered to a public board by its counsel clearly fall within this category. Therefore, I am requesting immediate access to these invoices, as per N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(e).

I hope that the legal services provided to the public board for this six (6) month period of time requested have not resulted in such a large volume of documentation. However, if the invoices represent a substantial quantity of documents that cannot be made available immediately, I kindly request an estimated page count. This will help in determining a reasonable justification for requesting an extension of time.

Common Law: Under common law, I seek access to the requested documents to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds by the Saddle River School District.his request is grounded in the fundamental public right to access governmental records, which promotes accountability and transparency in public entities. By scrutinizing the financial expenditures on legal services, stakeholders such as taxpayers and community members can better understand how public funds are being allocated and managed.

(1) To the extent that any such records contain personally identifiable information related to any individual student, please redact that personally identifiable information prior to disclosure.
(2) To the extent that any such records are exempted from disclosure under OPRA, and also unavailable under the common law right of access, please provide a complete Vaughn index of all such records, disclosing “sufficient detail to prove the requestor ‘with as much information as possible to use in presenting his case’ and to enable the ‘decision-maker’s review of governmental records to determine whether they contain privileged material.’” Paff v. Division of Law, 412 N.J. Super. 140, 161 (App. Div. 2010).

Regards,
Brian Hampel

Dear Kaitlyn Lawler,

Based on similar requests made to other school districts, it is usually observed that the attorney's effort for redacting documents does not exceed 2 to 3 hours at most. I certainly hope that Saddle River adheres to this norm and does not use this process as a pretext for unnecessary delays or excessive redaction of the invoices.

Regards,
Brian Hampel