Summit is pushing its outside law firm to change how it bills the city after a single invoice lumped more than half its charges under the word "General."

Councilmember Chantal Landman said the city is working with Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs to change the firm's billing methodology, NJ21st first reported Sept. 29. The goal is reporting "so as to provide better reporting and accountability by legal matter," Landman said.

The push follows a Tuesday, Sept. 22 bill list that included $60,644 in charges from Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs. Of that total, $33,222 was categorized as "General." No attorney hours or descriptions of the work accompanied that line item. The remaining charges broke down as $11,714 under "Bonczo," $9,594 under "Litigation," $2,394 under "Labor," $720 for Beacon Church and $3,000 for a retainer.

More than half the bill carried no description of the work performed.

Landman said council members do have access to the bills. The concern, she said, is what those bills actually tell them.

NJ21st's John Migueis emailed the council about the lack of billing detail before Landman's response, after the outlet had flagged the issue on its feed. Landman said the city's attorneys are taking steps to address the billing going forward.

The billing issue surfaced publicly at the Sept. 9 Common Council meeting, when the council approved a $100,000 increase to the city's 2026 legal services contract with Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs. That vote brought the authorized amount from $250,000 to $350,000.

At that meeting, Landman pressed for specifics. "What are we spending on each legal matter, from litigation to OPRA requests?" she said at the Sept. 9 meeting, as NJ21st reported Sept. 12. OPRA is the state's Open Public Records Act, which governs public access to government documents.

City Administrator Tammie Baldwin provided context for the spending increase at the same meeting. Baldwin said Summit ended 2025 with roughly $380,000 in solicitor expenses after starting the year with a $250,000 contract and adding $100,000 and then another $30,000. Without the September increase, the city would have been about $15,000 short for legal bills through August 2026.

No public response from Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs on the billing changes appears in city records as of Sept. 29.

Landman said better billing detail should let the council evaluate legal spending and determine whether costs can be reduced. She said she hopes to share progress on the changes with the public soon, though no specific date has been announced. Residents can attend Common Council meetings and speak during the public comment period.