In a legal opinion solicited by the Better Government Association, Chicago law firm Loevy + Loevy found no legal prohibitions to an ordinance proposed by City Council ethics chair Ald. Matt Martin and supported by Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg. 

Martin’s ordinance was introduced in response to an Office of Inspector General memo laying out three different methods by which Witzburg alleged the city’s law department had interfered in OIG investigations:

• Assertion of attorney-client privilege by the law department to withhold records and communications from OIG investigations
  
• Assertion by the law department that department lawyers may attend OIG investigative interviews, at the discretion of the city’s corporation counsel
  
• The law department’s conditioning enforcement of OIG subpoenas on OIG’s willingness to disclose information pertaining to the investigation for which the subpoena was issued

Following the ordinance’s introduction, city corporation counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry stated that the ordinance based on the Inspector General’s recommendations is inconsistent with state law and with an Illinois Supreme Court decision. The law department did not respond to a BGA inquiry seeking statute or case law in support of the city’s position with any specific citations, prompting the BGA to seek outside analysis.

Loevy + Lovey attorney Matt Topic, analyzing the proposed ordinance’s language, found no legal barriers to its requirement that the Corporation Counsel to promptly designate Office of Inspector General attorneys as Special Assistant Corporation Counsel to enforce subpoenas, prevention of attorneys representing the City from attending OIG investigative interviews, and requirement that cooperation with the OIG to supersede any attorney client privilege. 

“As of right now, the city has not articulated any clear legal objection to the legislation introduced by ethics chair Matt Martin and supported by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg,” stated Bryan Zarou, Vice-President of Policy for the Better Government Association. “Outside analysis has found no legal barriers to the proposed changes. This is a common-sense response to issues identified by the Inspector General in a detailed memo, and we strongly encourage members of City Council to support and pass Alderperson Martin’s ordinance.”

Read the complete legal opinion obtained by the Better Government Association below.

The Better Government Association is a 101-year-old civic watchdog that seeks better government through investigative journalism, policy reforms and civic engagement efforts that lead to more open, equitable and accountable government. The policy team and investigative unit operate independently of one another, while both seek to advance the cause of better government in Chicago and across Illinois.