Detroit Seeks $10M from Ex-Partner of Venable, Says She Didn't Do Job Due to Relationship with Mayor
An ongoing dispute over $10 million paid by the city of Detroit to a former partner of Venable and Saul Ewing who served as independent police monitor for more than five years has now moved to federal court.
The city has also upped the ante against attorney Sheryl Robinson Wood in yesterday’s filing in federal court in Detroit, contending that bills sent to the city by the law firms and Kroll Inc., for which she also worked during this period, were inaccurate. Because she was involved in intimate relationship with then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the filing says, Wood was not able to serve as an unbiased monitor as required by the appointment under a federal civil rights consent decree, according to the Am Law Daily and Associated Press.
The relationship between Wood and Kilpatrick came to light as a result of the text messages, the articles note.
As detailed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, the texts also created problems for Kilpatrick himself and lawyers involved in settlement discussions concerning a police whistle-blower case.
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