Who's Paying Dan Webb's BigLaw Bill in Detroit Mayor Case?
Hiring the chairman of Chicago’s Winston & Strawn as one’s criminal defense lawyer in a municipal corruption case obviously doesn’t come cheap.
So observers are wondering who is paying Dan Webb to defend Detroit’s embattled mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. The answer to that question isn’t entirely clear, but Webb says it’s definitely not taxpayers who are picking up the tab, reports the Detroit Free Press. The newspaper notes that the mayor’s personal money, a campaign fund, a political action fund and several charitable funds might all be possible sources of legal defense funds for Kilpatrick.
Says Webb himself: “I have never discussed publicly how my fees are being paid by my client regardless of who that client is. But I am familiar with the arrangements obviously that are being made for compensation for my firm, and the arrangement is perfectly proper.”
As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, Kilpatrick was charged yesterday in an obstruction of justice case, along with his former chief of staff. The case may potentially put city lawyers on the hot seat, for recommending a controversial $8.4 million settlement to conclude a lawsuit that underlies the obstruction prosecution against the mayor.
