This section describes the nature and extent of legal services provided by Cline & Associates under the full-service retainer option. All of these services are also available under the limited-service retainer (except “at-the-table” negotiation service), but may require co-payments on certain services. (All services are also available at hourly billing rates.)

For further information, please review our:

• Retainer Rate Sheet (PDF file – click to view or "right click" to download) for specifics on legal services covered under both full and limited retainer agreements as well as our hourly rates, our
• Client Roster page for assurance of our established presence in the public safety sector, and our
• Resources page for information on our extensive analytical and comparative tools.

LEGAL SERVICES

• Negotiations
• Interest Arbitration
• Contract Enforcement
• Discipline Representation
• Collective Bargaining Rights
• Officer Involved Use of Lethal Force
• Training Opportunities

NEGOTIATIONS

Cline & Associates will thoroughly evaluate and compare your contract terms to those of other jurisdictions. We will survey for “comparable jurisdictions” using our database which enables us to match jurisdictions by certain criteria. We will conduct a wage and benefit survey showing how your wages and benefits compare to those jurisdictions. We will confer with you prior to contract negotiations to determine your bargaining objectives, and will then draft proposals for you and discuss any revisions to the proposals before submission.

We will assist in negotiating the contract by providing an attorney at each bargaining session. This attorney will help you evaluate the employer’s proposals and help you make appropriate responses to those proposals. We will also assist in the development and drafting of any final agreement.

INTEREST ARBITRATION

For those who are eligible for interest arbitration, Cline & Associates provides extensive representation. We will use our database to develop charts, graphs, and documents to present at the arbitration hearing. We will work together with the bargaining team to collect other documents and reports to offer as evidence and will present this evidence to the arbitrator at the hearing. We will also prepare and file any post-hearing briefs further arguing the client’s case.

Interest arbitration preparation and presentation has become highly technical and complex and we maintain our expertise in this complex area. In addition to our databases, we maintain an extensive set of in-state decisions from prior interest arbitrations. We thoroughly analyze these interest arbitration decisions to develop arguments and prepare evidence for your hearings.

CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT

Cline & Associates provides clients with advice regarding contract interpretation, including the evaluation of potential grievances, and submits opinion letters detailing our evaluations on each issue. We draft correspondence and make telephone calls whenever needed in order to assist in the contract enforcement process. In the event grievances are unresolved and are to be submitted to arbitration, we provide legal services for the preparation and presentation of the association’s case.

DISCIPLINE REPRESENTATION

Cline & Associates provides legal advice at all stages of discipline representation. We are available for advice and representation at the initial stages of discipline, including the pre-disciplinary hearings. In the event an employee is disciplined and a grievance or civil service appeal is filed, we help evaluate the merits of such grievances. In the event a grievance is pursued through to a hearing, we again provide an attorney to assist in the preparation and presentation of the appeal.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS

Cline & Associates provides legal advice regarding all collective bargaining rights issues. We evaluate potential unfair labor practice claims and assist through correspondence and telephone calls where necessary to enforce such rights. When a group’s collective bargaining rights are violated, we will assist in the preparation and filing of unfair labor practice complaints. If such complaints go through to a hearing, we will provide legal services in preparing and presenting the association’s case at an unfair labor practice hearing.

OFFICER INVOLVED USE OF LETHAL FORCE

For officers who are involved in lethal force, quality legal representation is of paramount importance before the officer provides a written or verbal statement regarding the incident. Our attorneys are available on a 24-hour emergency basis to respond to such incidents and provide immediate representation to such officers. Attorneys are accessible directly by pager. One of our attorneys will be available for on-site representation as soon as possible. In the event such use-of-force situations result in a civil inquest proceeding, at the association’s request Cline & Associates will provide an attorney to represent the officer at the hearing.

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Training clients so they can better represent their own interests is of great importance to Cline & Associates. Toward that end, we provide a number of services. We issue a regular newsletter containing reports on developments of interest to our labor organizations.

We provide an annual client training seminar which provides representatives an opportunity to acquire in-depth information regarding the full range of representational issues. The seminar includes distribution of Jim Cline's newest book, "The Rights of Washington Public Safety Employees: Representative's Manual."

We also periodically, at a client’s request, provide a condensed version of the training seminar materials directly to the employees in the bargaining unit so they are aware of their basic legal and contractual rights.

An especially useful tool used for this member training is the "Washington Safety Employees: Member Handbook" written by Jim Cline and available for members of your organization to read. Click here for an online version of this out-of-print publication.