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The City of New Bedford will not be required to pay legal fees to The New Bedford Light’s attorneys for work on The Light’s 2025 lawsuit over withheld public records.
The city issued a press release on Monday noting Superior Court Justice Raffi Yessayan’s May 12 decision that denied The Light’s request for the city to pay roughly $116,000 in attorneys’ fees.
Yessayan had ordered the city to turn over four public records to The Light in August 2025, and ruled that two other documents were privileged attorney-client communications — and did not need to be made public.
The four public records the city released revealed that the city had awarded $2.25 million of federal grants to a local nonprofit despite “very high-risk” warnings from its own auditors. The grant was among the largest the city awarded as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which provided relief funds after the pandemic.
The staff of the New Bedford Light was awarded first place for this coverage in the 2025 Press Freedom category of the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s awards. Reporter Grace Ferguson was also recognized as a national finalist by the Center for Integrity in News Reporting for this work.
The Light had also sought public records regarding a consultant’s contract with the New Bedford Police Department. The day before Yessayan’s ruling, the city turned over the contract to The Light.
The city described the lawsuit in its press release this week: “Attorneys for the City and the Light engaged in a good-faith dispute in court last summer on the issue.”
The city also described the two documents that were not made public in its press release: “Among the documents the Light sought were legal communications between the City and its attorneys that would have compromised the City’s bargaining position in current and future negotiations and legal matters.”
The Light’s attorney, Edward Naughton, of the firm Brown Rudnick, issued this statement: “First and foremost, we’re very pleased that we were able to help The Light obtain these important public records. The City violated the Public Records Law when it refused to produce them. The law authorizes courts to award attorneys’ fees and costs in such circumstances, and so we are disappointed by the decision — but it won’t deter The Light from continuing to hold government officials accountable.”
Karen Bordeleau, executive editor of the New Bedford Light, said at the time of the August lawsuit decision that “there must always be a presumption of openness in government — but when there isn’t, we must hold officials accountable.”
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
