Opinion ID: 1199745
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Was there, as a matter of law, an established method for obtaining legal services?

Text: Defendants claim that the Purchasing Manual for Cochise County (Manual) is an established  indeed exclusive  method for procuring legal services and that Plaintiff did not attempt to comply with this Manual. As Defendants concede, however, the Manual contains no specific provision for obtaining lawyers for the justice court in special action proceedings. Indeed, the Manual contains general policies not intended to be completely comprehensive. These policies are intended to cover almost all cases involving procurement for the County.... While [this Manual] is necessarily detailed, it cannot cover all eventualities. The occasional exceptional cases will be worked out as circumstances warrant.  Manual at 1, 2 (emphasis added). Nor does the Manual, as a matter of law, cover emergency purchases of services (as opposed to goods). Id. at 9 (referring to emergency purchases of an item needed from a vendor). Thus, we cannot state as a matter of law that the Manual is an established method for obtaining legal services.