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Community Corner

SCANDAL PLAGUED METRA SPENDS $11 MILLION ON OUTSIDE LEGAL FEES BETWEEN 2011 AND 2013 TO 24 POLITICALLY CONNECTED LAW FIRMS

Abuse of taxpayer monies by METRA's management continues with our latest investigation of corruption and waste of funds.

Here is a link to the documents just obtained.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8x690pb0ocgvsux/-hxwN3r3A5

The list of pre-qualified law firms includes:
Chapman & Cutler
Daley Mohan Groble
Deutsch Levy & Engel
Dykema Gossett
Fedota Childers
Fletcher & Sippel
Foley & Lardner
Griffin Villa Williams
Hinshaw & Culbertson
Johnson Greene
JG Law
Jones Day
Judge James & Kujawa
Laner Muchin
Alan Barin
Locke Lord & Bissell
Madsen Sugden & Gottemol
Pugh Jones Johnson
Shefsky & Froelich
Sidley & Austin
Swanson Martin & Bell
Tressler
Weltman Weinberg & Reis
Zukowski Rogers Flood

Swanson Martin billed $1.5 Million in 2011 alone!

Many of these firms enjoy similar position with the City of Chicago and sister agencies including Chicago Public Schools, MPEA, Park District, etc.

Acting General Counsel Theresa A. Barnett earns $138,600annually. This equates to an hourly rate of 
$66.63. Outside legal fees start at $175 and skyrocket to over$600 per hour for named partners!

In addition, outside fees typically comprise multiple attorneys billing hourly, so the effective hourly rate is just under $1,000.

We call upon the Illinois Attorney General's & US Attorney to investigate how these contracts are awarded, who has responsibility to oversee the professional services and why this work is not performed by in-house counsel that would result in considerable savings of taxpayer monies.

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