Joplin R-8 legal fees for P1 lawsuit approaching $1 million

The biggest bill yet for legal services in a lawsuit filed by the Joplin R-8 School District against the electrical contractor on the high school construction project and the company's countersuit is scheduled to be approved by the Board of Education when it meets Tuesday night.

The $216,031.61 submitted for the latest bill by Polsinelli PC, a Kansas City firm, brings the total to at least $818,093.49 and the P1 lawsuit is nowhere near its conclusion.

The bill comes one month after the district paid $112,926.57, meaning that taxpayers have shelled out $328,958.18 in two months.

That amount does not include the $50,000 the district paid former Superintendent C. J. Huff to be available to help with the lawsuit, which according to P1 came because of decisions Huff made in a desperate, ultimately unsuccessful effort to get Joplin High School opened on time for the scheduled beginning of the 2014-2015 school year.

The district filed the lawsuit after it became aware that P1 was preparing to file a lawsuit asking for more than $6 million it says the district owes it for extra costs associated with Huff's unsuccessful race to get Joplin High School open on time in August 2014.