Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Every time a bell rings it means that Oak Lawn Patch has received another leaked pdf from a disgruntled local village official or political candidate.
There was no shortage of reading material on Oak Lawn Patch in 2012, which was the recipient of numerous leaked pdf documents from various local elected officials and political candidates. Color-coded or just plain black and white, we were happy to provide the back-story to the ongoing, continuing-to-unfold drama on the Oak Lawn political scene. Do you have a pdf or a dime to drop on someone? Want to put it on Patch? We don’t discriminate. Send it our way to lorraine.swanson@patch.com. Here are the top five documents leaked to Patch in 2012: With the upcoming April election there will no doubt be more pdfs coming our way, as well as the Patch editor's butt taking on the shape of a booth at Huck Finn Donuts attempting to make sense of this …
Monday, October 1, 2012
Mayor offers "observations" as defense against legal report that casts him in unflattering light.
In response to the Godfrey and Kahn probe into the former village attorney now known as Tressler LLP, Mayor Dave Heilmann offered his own 46-page document of "observations" responding to some of legal report's findings. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Last week, Heilmann blasted Godfrey and Kahn attorney Eric Wilson for leaving out a federal grand jury subpeona served on the village last year requesting all documents and records pertaining to the hiriing of Querrey and Harrow. The firm replaced Tressler after some board members raised concerns over the village’s tripling legal fees, leaving some question of whether village had allegedly been double-billed by its village counsel. The village settled …
Monday, September 24, 2012
Mayor Dave Heilmann charges that Godfrey and Kahn attorney Eric Wilson ignored federal criminal grand jury subpoena because of relationship to Trustee Tom Phelan, a former college fraternity brother. Read the federal subpoena.
Oak Lawn’s new “best seller” – the Godfrey and Kahn report – is apparently missing an important chapter, according to Mayor Dave Heilmann. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Voicing his frustration with the “one-sidedness” of the Wisconsin-based law firm’s probe into the former village attorney now known as Tressler LLP, Heilmann blasted Godfrey and Kahn attorney Eric Wilson’s omission of a federal grand jury subpoena. Read the mayor's timeline and the federal grand jury subpeona. Godfrey and Kahn was hired by the village in May 2011, to look into the findings into alleged overbillings and botched litigation of Tressler by attorney Burt Odelson, who maintained that missteps by the former village attorney …
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Read all five installments of the Godfrey and Kahn legal investigation into the former village attorneys, paid for by the Oak Lawn taxpayers.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Read part 4 of the legal report into the former village attorney paid for by the taxpayers of Oak Lawn.
The Oak Lawn Village Board released a second investigative report into the former village attorney now known as Tressler LLP after questions arose about the firm's billings and handling of litigation. Godfrey and Kahn was hired by the village in May 2011 to conduct a second investigation into the former village attorney. The village board voted unanimously last April to accept a $500,000 from the firm. The settlement also carried an agreement to keep the final report confidential. Part 4 is the last installment of the Godfrey and Kahn Report. It is 504 pages long. The report was obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the Village. Read Part 1 of the Godfrey and Kahn Report. Read Part 2 of the Godfrey and Kahn Report. …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Read "Part 3B" of the legal report into the former village attorney paid for by the taxpayers of Oak Lawn.
The Oak Lawn Village Board released a second investigative report into the former village attorney now known as Tressler LLP after questions arose about the firm's billings and handling of litigation. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Godfrey and Kahn was hired by the village in May 2011 to conduct a second investigation into the former village attorney. The village board voted unanimously last April to accept a $500,000 from the firm. The settlement also carried an agreement to keep the final report confidential. The saga continues with Part 3B of the Godfrey and Kahn report. The 206-page document includes: And this is just a sampling. Warning: Documents contain some graphic language. The report was …
Monday, September 17, 2012
Read part 3A of the legal report into the former village attorney paid for by the taxpayers of Oak Lawn.
The Oak Lawn Village Board released a second investigative report into the former village attorney now known as Tressler LLP after questions arose about the firm's billings and handling of litigation. Godfrey and Kahn was hired by the village in May 2011 to conduct a second investigation into the former village attorney. The village board voted unanimously last April to accept a $500,000 from the firm. The settlement also carried an agreement to keep the final report confidential. Part 3A of the Godfrey and Kahn report includes a letter from the firm to Village Manager Larry Deetjen outlining its terms to the village and $375-per-hour fee and an analysis of the "Odelson Report," the first legal audit of Tressler LLP during its employ by …
Friday, September 14, 2012
Read part two of the legal report into the former village attorney paid for by the taxpayers of Oak Lawn.
The Oak Lawn Village Board voted Tuesday evening to release Godfrey and Kahn's report of its investigation into the former village attorney Tressler LLP. Godfrey and Kahn was hired by the village in May 2011 to conduct a second investigation into the former village attorney after it was alleged that the firm over billed the village, as well as mishandled some cases. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Part II of the Godrey and Kahn report is 168 pages and includes an appendix of witnesses inteviewed for the report, including the mayor and Oak Lawn trustees, transcripts of executive sessions, and spreadsheets of legal fees billed to the village between October 2005 to September 2009. The report was obtained …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Read part one of the legal report into the former village attorney paid for by the taxpayers of Oak Lawn.
The Oak Lawn Village Board voted Tuesday evening to release Godfrey and Kahn's report of its investigation into the former village attorney Tressler LLP. Godfrey and Kahn was hired by the village in May 2011 to conduct a second investigation of the former village attorney after it was alleged that the firm over billed the village, as well as mishandled some cases. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Some village board members also accused the mayor of blocking efforts to fire the law firm when it became apparent that the village's legal fees had tripled because he had friends at the firm. The village settled for $500,000 with the law firm that served as Oak Lawn's legal counsel between 2005 and 2009. Tied to…
Oak Lawn trustees won't fight freedom of information act request for confidential legal report on former village attorney.
The Oak Lawn Village Board will not fight a freedom of information act request filed by mayoral candidate Dr. Sandra Bury to release a confidential legal report into the former village attorneys on Tuesday. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Village trustees voted unanimously not to fight Bury’s appeal to the Illinois Attorney General after the village denied her FOIA request in July. Tressler, Soderstrom, Maloney and Preiss—now known as Tressler LLP—settled with the village for $500,000 in April after a lengthy investigation of its legal billings by a Wisconsin-based firm specializing in white-collar defense and investigations. The settlement came with a confidentiality agreement that the report compiled …
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Dave W.
3:41 pm on Wednesday, January 2, 2013
15 1/2 shirt size?! He is one thin dude... more ›