Title
The Board of Water Commissioners for the City of Detroit Water Sewerage Department approve Amendment 4 to DWSD Contract No. 6003769 (LS-1906) with Bush Seyferth, PLLC for Legal Services for Representation in Litigation Related to the June and July 2021 Rain Events; by adding $500,000.00 for an amended total contract amount not-to-exceed $1,700,000.00 with no change to the statement of work, term end date or terms & conditions. This authorizes the Director to take such other action as may be necessary to accomplish the intent of this vote.
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Agenda of November 18, 2026
Item No. 2026-237
Proposed Amendment No. 4
Contract No: 6003769 (LS-1906)
Contractor: Bush Seyferth, PLLC
Address: 100 W Big Beaver Road, Suite 400, Troy, MI 48084
Contract Term: 8/15/21 - 12/31/99 (Term end date is open until competition of all satisfactory services.)
Current Contract Amount: $1,200,000.00
Proposed Amendment 4 Amount: $500,000.00
Proposed Amendment 4 Contract Amount: $1,700,000.00
TO: The Honorable
Board of Water Commissioners
City of Detroit, Michigan
FROM: Gary Brown, Director
Water and Sewerage Department
RE: Proposed Amendment No. 4 to Contract No. 6003769
To add funds to the contract for legal representation for litigation related to the June 25th & 26th and July 2021 Rain Events
Bush Seyferth, PLLC
MOTION
Upon recommendation of Marqaicha Welch, Procurement Manager, the Board of Water Commissioners for the City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department approve Amendment 4 to DWSD Contract No. 6003769 (LS-1906) with Bush Seyferth, PLLC for Legal Services for Representation in Litigation Related to the June and July 2021 Rain Events; by adding $500,000.00 for an amended total contract amount not-to-exceed $1,700,000.00 with no change to the statement of work, term end date or terms & conditions. This authorizes the Director to take such other action as may be necessary to accomplish the intent of this vote.
BACKGROUND / JUSTIFICATION
The historic rainfalls of June 25 and 26th 2021 contributed to a substantial amount of flooding and sewage backups in the City of Detroit and surrounding suburbs. On July 16th another rain event occurred that caused flooding and backups in a smaller section of the City. Under the Governmental Liability for Negligence Act (Act 170 of 1964), a governmental agency is immune from tort liability for the overflow or backup of a sewage disposal system unless:
1. The sewage disposal system had a defect.
2. The governmental agency knew, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, about the defect.
3. The governmental agency, having the legal authority to do so, failed to take reasonable steps in a reasonable amount of time to repair, correct, or remedy the defect.
4. The defect was a substantial proximate cause of the event and the property damage or physical injury (50% or more of the cause).
The City/DWSD requires the services of an outside law firm to handle the defense of these cases. The City’s Corporation Counsel, Lawrence Garcia; Deputy Corporation Counsel, Charles Raimi, and DWSD’s General Counsel interviewed several firms and chose Bush Seyferth, PLLC as the firm suitable to represent the City/DWSD in these matters.
Amendment 1 increased funding by $50,000.00 for a new total contract amount of $550,000.00.
Amendment 2 increased funding by $500,000.00 for a new total contract amount of $1,050,000.00.
Amendment 3 increased funding by $150,000.00 for a new total contract amount of $1,200,000.00.
Proposed Amendment 4 is to increase contract funding by $500,000.00 for a new total contract amount of $1,700,000.00. The current funding on the contract is close to being depleted; the additional funds are to defend these matters. The Court of Appeals denied the City’s argument that it had immunity from these claims. As such, these matters must be litigated through resolution.
PROCUREMENT METHOD
Competitive solicitation is not required per Item 6 under Judge Sean F. Cox’s order dated October 5, 2012, in Case No. 77-71100. The BOWC approved the original contract for LS-1906 on 9/1/21.
Amendment 1 to add $50,000 was approved by the BOWC on 4/20/22.
Amendment 2 to add $500,000 was approved by the BOWC on 12/21/22.
Amendment 3 to add $150,000 was approved by the BOWC on 10/15/25.
Proposed Amendment 4 was submitted through requisition #552945, which was approved by Budget 10/9/26. The Amendment requests by adding $500,000.00, for an amended total contract amount not-to-exceed $1,700,000.00 with no change to the statement of work, term end date or terms & conditions.
Bush Seyferth, PLLC applied for clearances on 10/12/26 and a formal amended contract document is being sent to the vendor for signature.
SUMMARY
A. Contract No.: 6003769 (LS-1906)
B. Contractor: Bush Seyferth, PLLC
C. Contract Term: 8/15/21 - 12/31/99
(Term end date is open until competition of all satisfactory services.)
D. Original Contract Amount: $500,000.00
E. Amendment No. 1 Amount: $50,000.00
F. Amendment No. 2 Amount: $500,000.00
G. Amendment No. 3 Amount: $150,000.00
H. Proposed Amendment No. 4 Amount: $500,000.00
I. Proposed New Total Contract Amount: $1,700,00.00
J. Anticipated FY Spend: FY 26 - 27 $500,000.00
K. Funding Source O&M Funds
L. GL String:
5720-20168-483101-613100-000000-00000-0000-000000 - 47% Water
5820-20179-493101-613100-000000-00000-0000-000000 - 53% Sewer
FY 21-22: $250,000
This proposed amendment was presented to the BOWC Finance Committee agenda on November 4, 2026. Per the DWSD procurement protocol, no additional approvals are required at this time.