Outside Law Firms and Legal Billing Records (1-Year Scope)
Dear Belmar Board of Education,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.
I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
I am requesting the following records for the time period of May1, 2024 to July 31, 2025:
A list of all law firms and attorneys who were paid by the district or Board of Education during this time, including for general legal services, special education, hearings, investigations, or litigation.
Copies of all legal invoices or billing records from those firms and attorneys for that same period. Please include, for each invoice:
1. Name of the law firm
2. Name of each attorney or staff person who billed time
3. Date of each invoice
4. A general description of services (if available)
5. Hours billed
6. Hourly rate
7.Total amount billed and/or paid
If any parts of the invoices are redacted, I still request the above non-confidential information as required by OPRA. If anything is withheld, please provide a privilege log explaining the reason.
Thanks. Taxpayer
Thank you for your OPRA request. Please allow for an extension as we have
staff that are out of the office for the next three weeks. We should be
able to furnish this information by the end of August.
Thank you,
Mike
Michael Bardsley, CPA
School Business Administrator
Belmar Board of Education
(ph) 732-681-8888
(fax) 732-681-8709
On Thu, Jul 31, 2025 at 11:28 AM taxpayer
<[1][OPRA #78981 email]> wrote:
Dear Belmar Board of Education,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA
and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an
official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request
per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor
including all of the information required on the adopted form shall
suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record
request.
I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of
New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial
purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
I am requesting the following records for the time period of May1, 2024
to July 31, 2025:
A list of all law firms and attorneys who were paid by the district or
Board of Education during this time, including for general legal
services, special education, hearings, investigations, or litigation.
Copies of all legal invoices or billing records from those firms and
attorneys for that same period. Please include, for each invoice:
1. Name of the law firm
2. Name of each attorney or staff person who billed time
3. Date of each invoice
4. A general description of services (if available)
5. Hours billed
6. Hourly rate
7.Total amount billed and/or paid
If any parts of the invoices are redacted, I still request the above
non-confidential information as required by OPRA. If anything is
withheld, please provide a privilege log explaining the reason.
Thanks. Taxpayer
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Please deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE
address for all replies to this request:
[2][OPRA #78981 email]
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Belmar Board of Education? If so, please contact us using this form:
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View this OPRA request & responses online:
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For more information, contact us at: (732) 707-1628 or PO Box 3180,
New Brunswick, NJ 08903."
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^All email to and from @[7]belmar.k12.nj.us is to be used for educational
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7. http://belmar.k12.nj.us/
Dear Belmar Board of Education,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Open Public Records Act reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Belmar Board of Education's handling of my OPRA request 'Outside Law Firms and Legal Billing Records (1-Year Scope)'.
This request is beyond the deadline set by the district.
A full history of my OPRA request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://opramachine.com/request/outside_...
Yours faithfully,
taxpayer
Thank you for your email and sorry that this fell out of the scope of our
work. In the replied email we had a few people out of work for the three
weeks and the email was forgotten about. Attached you will find a PDF that
has our invoices for the time requested of May 2024 through July 2025. On
the invoices it has the information that you have requested. We have the
following two firms:
• Methfessel & Werbel, Esqs - Our main contact is Athina Cornell
• Kenny, Gross, Kovates & Parton - Our main contact is Michael Gross
This email satisfies your request, again sorry for the delayed response.
Thank you,
Mike
Michael Bardsley, CPA
School Business Administrator
Belmar Board of Education
(ph) 732-681-8888
(fax) 732-681-8709
On Mon, Oct 6, 2025 at 8:44 PM taxpayer
<[1][OPRA #78981 email]> wrote:
Dear Belmar Board of Education,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Open Public Records Act
reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Belmar Board of
Education's handling of my OPRA request 'Outside Law Firms and Legal
Billing Records (1-Year Scope)'.
This request is beyond the deadline set by the district.
A full history of my OPRA request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[2]https://opramachine.com/request/outside_...
Yours faithfully,
taxpayer
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this UNIQUE email address for all replies to this request and
no other:
[3][OPRA #78981 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://opramachine.com/help/officers
View this OPRA request & responses online:
[5]https://opramachine.com/request/outside_...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses
will be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an OPRA custodian, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's website.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
^Confidentiality Notice: the information contained in this email and any
attachments may be legally privileged and confidential. If you are not an
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination,
distribution, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited.
^All email to and from @[6]belmar.k12.nj.us is to be used for educational
purposes
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://opramachine.com/request/outside_...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://opramachine.com/help/officers
5. https://opramachine.com/request/outside_...
6. http://belmar.k12.nj.us/