District switches back to former legal firm

CLINTONVILLE – After hiring the legal firm von Briesen & Roper, s.c. in October to serve as the Clintonville School District’s legal firm, the Clintonville Board of Education reversed course at its May 11 meeting, and approved switching back to Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c. for legal services.
The approval for the switch was passed 4-3. Board Treasurer Klint Barkow, and board members Christopher Hoffmann and Jason Moder voted against switching back to Renning, Lewis & Lacy. In October 2025, those three board members voted to approve von Briesen & Roper as the district’s legal firm, along with former board president Glen Drew Lundt. Lundt was defeated by Laurie Vollrath in the April election. Vollrath voted in favor of switching back to Renning, Lewis & Lacy.
The change is effective July 1. All pending legal issues will remain with von Briesen & Roper.
Leading off the discussion, Clintonville Superintendent Troy Kuhn told the board that he had been asked by several individuals to describe the district’s current legal representation the district currently has. He said the district currently has von Briesen & Roper handling legal issues for the district.
He said the district is currently being charged around $360 per hour for legal services. Work done by a legal assistant is around $200 per hour. In comparison, the district’s most recent legal firm, Renning, Lewis & Lacy charged around $315 per hour, while work done by legal assistants ranged from $150-$200 per hour.

According to Kuhn, the biggest difference between the two legal firms is that Kuhn has relationships with multiple people at Renning, Lewis & Lacy, while he has a relationship with only one person at von Briesen & Roper. He added that a team of legal experts at von Briesen & Roper work with Kuhn’s contact at the legal firm.
“They both have helped me through policy changes and helped me with everything, so both the relationships in my mind have been positive,” Kuhn said. “I don’t really have complaints about either (legal firm).”
Board President Ben Huber said the reason the board had the discussion about changing legal firms in the fall of 2025 was due to cost concerns.
“And von Briesen charges us 14% more per hour, I would suggest that, if we’re here to save thousands of dollars, that’s a way to save thousands of dollars,” Huber said.
Board Vice President Kris Strauman added, “Well, there’s a lot of discussion about saving money, and if this costs us more, then to me it’s a no-brainer.”
Moder said that most of the attorney costs for the past year have been from “Renning, Lewis and Lacy and his partners that he hired.”
Moder added that even though the hourly rate for von Briesen & Roper might be higher, less time may be spent by Von Briesen & Roper than Renning, Lewis & Lacy working on the district’s legal issues.
Because different legal issues occur at different times of the year and von Briesen & Roper didn’t start representing the district until Nov. 1, 2025, Hoffmann recommended allowing von Briesen & Roper to represent the district for one full year before the district evaluates its legals services again.
Huber said that could be a possibility, but added that the “original stated reason” for the initial discussion to change legal firms in 2025 was for cost savings.
“It appears that we went with a much more expensive attorney than we had,” Huber said.
Kuhn said “In the end, it’s the board’s legal services. I’m not disgruntled with either of them. I’m just stating what I know, as I was asked to do.”