How many lawyers does a county clerk need? DuPage board members question size of clerk’s legal team

Some DuPage County Board members are questioning the number of lawyers representing the county clerk in a legal case stemming from an ongoing dispute over how bills get paid.

County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek has a team of three lawyers representing her in a lawsuit challenging her authority over how she runs her office. Because the state’s attorney’s office filed the lawsuit against Kaczmarek, the county’s chief judge appointed legal representation for the clerk.

“I don’t understand why now we’re having two law firms represent the county clerk when I would assume we would only need one,” DuPage County Board member Grant Eckhoff said during Tuesday’s board meeting.

According to county officials, two of the attorneys representing the clerk will be paid $300 per hour. The third will get $290 per hour.

The county will pay Kaczmarek’s legal bills.

DuPage County Chief Judge Bonnie Wheaton initially appointed two lawyers from the Lisle firm of Robbins Schwarz to represent Kaczmarek.

County board Chair Deborah Conroy said a third attorney from another firm, Ed Mullen, was hired because the clerk was not communicating with the Lisle firm.

“I was told the clerk would not respond to the attorney that the chief justice appointed, and, therefore, she (Wheaton) decided to appoint the other one who she (Kaczmarek) had requested,” Conroy said Tuesday.

“If the county clerk won’t talk to her attorney, then I think that’s on her — not on us,” Eckhoff responded, adding he thinks the county board should be notified if any other attorneys are added to Kaczmarek’s legal team.

Kenneth Florey, an attorney with Robbins Schwartz appointed to represent Kaczmarek, said he sought to retain Mullen for the clerk’s legal team because of his understanding of the ongoing dispute and to give Kaczmarek “confidence” in her legal team. Mullen initially filed a motion to represent the clerk when the lawsuit was first filed against her in September.

Florey added that Kaczmarek has been “excellent to work with” and dismissed any suggestion that she was not communicating with him.

While some have questioned the expense of Kaczmarek’s legal fees, her chief deputy clerk, Adam Johnson, noted that the county bears responsibility for the lawsuit.

“(DuPage County State’s Attorney) Bob Berlin bears responsibility for every taxpayer dollar that is spent on this litigation,” Johnson said. “He is the one who is ignoring the attorney general’s guidance and then sues his own client.”

Berlin filed the lawsuit, called a writ of mandamus, asking a judge to compel the clerk to comply with county accounting practices. In the lawsuit, the state’s attorney’s office argues Kaczmarek is violating state law when she refuses to indicate where in her budget a bill should be paid from when a designated line item falls short.

In response, Kaczmarek’s attorneys filed a lawsuit against the county board, Conroy and Auditor Bill White. They argue that guidance from the Illinois attorney general’s office falls on the side of giving the clerk — and other countywide elected officials — control over how they run their offices.

In addition, they say the only control the county board has is setting the total amount of money allocated to an elected official’s overall budget.

The case is set for a status hearing on Nov. 7.

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