Campbell Board of Education hires Cantrell as new attorney

VERY TOP PHOTO: BOE hires former board attorney Dail Cantrell in a special called meeting on Monday evening.

By Charlotte Underwood 

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- Campbell County Board of Education members approved to hire Dail Cantrell as it’s attorney at a special called meeting on Monday evening. Cantrell is the school board’s former attorney that had resigned from the position around a year ago to deal with a medical issue. At that time, the BOE had hired Chris McCarty as its attorney.

 School board members met to consider proposals for changing the attorney at 5 pm on Monday and interviewed four candidates for the position. Also interviewed was Elizabeth Burrell out of Anderson County, as well as local attorneys Kristie Anderson and Steve Hurst.

According to BOE chairman Jeffrey Miller, the consideration for “changing the board’s attorney came out of the budget and finance committee, which “met about a month ago and asked him to send out proposals for the position.”  

He said he had reached out to several local candidates, but not all had replied.

Applicants had provided flat rate cost proposals to the BOE prior to the meeting and were also asked questions about board attorney communication practices, board and attorney relationships, and litigation records during the brief interview session.

Before the vote took place, BOE member Brandon Johnson addressed board chairman and told fellow board members he had been satisfied with the legal services provided by McCarty and that he “personally” did not think McCarty’s fees were “unreasonable.”

“Do we have a concern as a board about his quality, about his pricing, neither or both? Because personally I am confused about what the concerns are,” Johnson said.

Chairman Miller said from his “point of view” the “pricing is obscene.”

“We’ve had Mr. Cantrell for 20 years at $30,000 a year and as of the other day, Mr. McCarty’s firm is up to $72,000 for nine months…so, you know, where do you get when you go from $30,000 and you’re doubling and getting close to even one hundred grand. The fact that they’re not local and they are having to drive here; I’m an advocate for the attorney to be in the room, that’s where I’m at on it,” Miller said.

At this point, BOE member Crystal Creekmore made a motion to accept the proposal and hire Cantrell, with a transition phase of 30 days or less.

Johnson said Cantrell would be his top choice “after Mr. McCarty” and pointed out to board members that McCarty had submitted a flat rate proposal moving forward that would lessen the annual cost.

According to officials, that flat rate proposal that McCarty submitted was “$4,000 a month,” excluding the extra costs of litigation fees.

Board member Creekmore said she had worked with Cantrell for ten years from when he served as board attorney prior and that she knew and trusted his communication with the board.

“There was zero issue with him; we have this cost of almost $80,000 and we have someone with 21 years’ experience willing to come back, I say we jump on it,” Creekmore said, repeating her motion.

Johnson was the only board member to vote no as the motion passed.

Dail Cantrell of Cantrell Law Firm in Clinton served as the school board’s attorney from 2002 until November of last year due to “suffering a severe jaw dislocation.”

Cantrell has been practicing school law since 1991 and has represented at least 20 school systems in the state of Tennessee throughout that time, as well as served as an administrative law judge. He is an advocate for students with disabilities. Cantrell is also serving on his 6th term in the Anderson County School Board.

He told board members he had “tried approximately 350 jury trials” and had a 98-percent success rate. He was a professor of law at UT for over a decade and has written law textbooks.

Cantrell spoke about his time as the school board’s attorney, saying when he was hired in 2002, there were “over 200 active lawsuits against the school and that when he left, the board had no active litigation.

He told board members if it had not been for medical reasons, he would not have vacated the position.

After being hired, Cantrell thanked the board for the opportunity and said he felt like he was “home.”

During the interview, Cantrell said he “believed in keeping the board informed …head off problems before they occur and that his job was to take pressure off the school board and onto himself regarding legal decisions. 

He is also being retained at the same rate of pay that he was receiving when hired in 2002 at $30,000 annually. According to Cantrell, “phone calls, emergency calls are “free” and the “only thing” that he charges extra for is litigation.

“I never asked for a raise in the 20-plus years that I was the attorney, in fact I turned down several …I am totally comfortable coming back at what I came in at in 2002…I felt the position was overfunded when I came in, and I actually asked to have pay for the attorney be reduced, because I felt you were overpaying back then for what it was,” Cantrell said.

He also assured board members that there would be no issues with his firm taking over any litigation cases from the current attorney.

Cantrell and current BOE attorney Chris McCarty will both attend the December meeting, with Cantrell taking over completely January 1, 2025.

Cantrell asked to schedule a meeting to get to know the new board members; BOE members said they would schedule a workshop in January. Cantrell said he would reach out to McCarty and go over anything that needs to be immediately brought to his attention.

At the January workshop meeting, he and the board will go over any “pending matters” that need attention. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-11/26/2024-6AM)