Law professor: “This is extremely corrupt behavior that is costing the taxpayers of the City of Chicago hundreds of thousands of dollars”

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx campaigned on being a reformer, but she’s allowing her office to be run like a classic Chicago political machine, just like her former boss Toni Preckwinkle.

One of Foxx’s top aides resigned last week after an investigation revealed that he was steering county business to his former law firm over and above typical county rates for legal services. The law firm in question received over $464,000 in business from Cook County. One law professor called it “extremely corrupt behavior.”

From WFLD-TV:

… The resignation of the acting Civil Actions Bureau Chief, Chaka Patterson, comes after Fox 32 News first made inquiries about the State’s Attorney’s use of outside counsel six weeks ago. State’s Attorney Foxx’s office provided us with a statement saying that her own review of outside counsel practices revealed that Patterson was referring significant business to his former law firm, Jones Day. Documents provided to Fox 32 News show Jones Day attorneys were sometimes being paid up to $500 an hour, rather than the customary rates of about a $185 an hour for outside legal services.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A top member of the Cook County state’s attorney’s office resigned Friday after an internal review found he had referred business to his old law firm, allowing it to charge up to $315 an hour above the county’s standard rate, according to an official and county records.

Chaka Patterson, a 49-year-old former partner at the Chicago offices of the global law firm Jones Day, became head of the county prosecutor’s office’s civil division in February just months after State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s 2016 election victory. The Civil Actions Bureau defends nearly all civil lawsuits filed against the county. As head of the division, Patterson was able to refer cases in which the office had a conflict — such as if a judge were being sued — to outside counsel.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Friday announced that one of her top deputies had resigned after a review showed his former law firm had billed the county more than the county standard rate.

Chaka Patterson, a Harvard-educated lawyer and prodigious fundraiser for former President Barack Obama, leaves the State’s Attorney’s office less than a year after he left his job as a partner at the Chicago office of the multinational law firm Jones Day.

In June, county records show Patterson hired Jones Day to handle two cases, with the firm eventually billing the county for some $460,000.

… The county rate is $185 an hour. County records indicate the firm billed at rates ranging from $95 to $500 an hour.

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