St. Louis County Council members have rebelled against handing a "blank check" to an outside law firm already paid more than $400,000 for legal advice in the last year.
Lewis Rice of St. Louis was paid $421,257, first for work on a discrimination case, then to deal with issues connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Councilman Tim Fitch (R-3rd District) said he aired his objections to the hiring of outside counsel when Lewis Rice was first retained as the county faced a multi-million dollar pay out following the successful discrimination action by Sgt. Keith Wildhaber, a gay man.
Since then, Lewis Rice was retained, following a council vote, to advise the county on matters linked to the coronavirus.
County Counselor Beth Orwick had asked that the agreement be extended to cover the possible racial discrimination and retaliation action by Lt. Col. Troy Doyle.
But there was no limit placed on the amount that will be spent, only that it would be a "reasonably necessary" cost, Fitch said.
Council Chairwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, shelved any vote on the matter. Fitch said the council did not have the votes for it to pass.
Fitch and Councilwoman Rita Days (D-1st District) have consistently argued against retaining outside lawyers, believing the work can be done by the county's in-house team.
Since its hiring last year, Lewis Rice has been paid approximately $220,000 to handle issues linked to Wildhaber case and a further $200,000 to deal with the pandemic.
"What I balked at was the blank check, unlimited, to defend (County Executive) Sam Page and the county on this probable discrimination issue," Fitch said of the Doyle case. "It is unlimited amount of funds...no dollar amount."
The councilman claims that the county is not asking for a set amount because then management would have to explain if more is needed, and how the money is spent.
"It makes it a public issue," Fiitch said, adding he is still not clear what the county paid for after hiring of the law firm to deal with issues linked to the pandemic.
In the Wildhaber case, the police sergeant was awarded more than $20 million by a jury. A settlement of $10.25 million was later agreed on, largely because both sides realized that a large chunk of the punitive damages award would automatically revert to the state under Missouri law.