With regards to the Tribune articles and subsequent editorial addressing the city of Chicago Law Department’s use of outside legal counsel and billing invoices by those firms, context as always is important.
First, let me say unequivocally that even one billing error is one too many, especially when dealing with taxpayer dollars. Since joining this administration in mid-2023, I have committed to instituting meaningful reforms that address the large backlog of federal civil rights and reversed-conviction cases, to which the use of outside legal counsel and invoice billing by those firms is connected. In our portfolio of tens of thousands of cases, they are by far the most demanding.
One thing I’ve learned over decades of public service is that there are no quick fixes. While the city continues to make public safety reforms, we must address a caseload of federal civil rights cases decades in the making, particularly reversed-conviction cases, and the use of outside counsel to handle these complex litigation matters. Instituting meaningful and lasting reforms requires a systemic and holistic strategy.
The Tribune indicated that private law firms have “submitted tens of thousands of invoices” over the past decade to help our Law Department defend federal civil rights cases. And so, to provide context, over a 10-year period when more than 36,000 invoices were submitted, the Tribune found 40 instances of billing errors by those firms. Yes, even 40 out of 36,000 invoices are too many, but it’s important to know that those firms were required to and did expeditiously address their errors, with reimbursements having been made to the city.
To remedy this situation and mitigate future issues, we have focused on strategies that effectively and systemically address the larger underlying challenges: reducing the backlog of these cases, responsibly reducing use of outside counsel, and ensuring that all received by our Law Department are properly submitted and reviewed.
As we indicated at the time of the first Tribune story about use of outside counsel, federal civil rights and reversed-conviction cases are complex, and even when involving the same defendant or defendants, each case has a different set of facts. Over the decades, the Law Department has relied on outside counsel under deputy supervision to litigate these cases. And, while I have taken steps to bring more lawyers on staff, which remains an objective, I have at the same time begun instituting a strategy that responsibly reduces the backlog of cases and establishes more comprehensive review of invoices received by outside counsel.
To strengthen checks and balances, we have spent the past three years modernizing a system we inherited — a legal department that was not built for the scale or complexity of the litigation the city faces today.
Approaching this strategically and comprehensively requires recognizing that the real cost driver involved here isn’t clerical errors — the approximately 0.1% of all invoices processed where the Tribune found issues. Rather, it is legacy cases and the antiquated model the city had relied on in the past to resolve them, coupled with the exorbitant plaintiffs’ fees that attach themselves by federal law to reversed-conviction cases. While we have begun to address the legacy cases and the outside counsel model, some statutory changes are also necessary to truly reduce costs.
Systemic changes have been and continue to be our strategy. The Risk Management and Compliance Division was created in October 2023, marking the department’s first formal risk assessment function and beginning the process of strengthening safeguards and oversight, including with outside counsel partners. Additionally, the department began building the Mass Torts and Complex Litigation Division in late 2024. This opened the door to global settlements.
And so, in 2025, the city reached a historic global settlement resolving 176 reversed-conviction cases involving former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts. That alone allowed us to close out 64% of the overall Law Department reversed-conviction caseload, and it reduced the city’s financial exposure by approximately $500 million and cut outside counsel expenditures. The oldest of these cases dated to nearly a decade ago, and we chose an innovative closure strategy rather than continuing the previous economically outdated approach to case management.
Meaningful structural reforms have also been put in place. Prior to this administration, the city’s outside counsel guidelines had not been updated in nearly six years. We undertook a comprehensive review and adopted amendments in 2024 and 2026. These updates included more rigorous compliance requirements and enhanced billing expectations. The reforms further included the engagement of a third-party managed bill-review service, piloted in 2025 and now rolled out department-wide. This provides consistent, independent billing oversight aligned with established industry standards.
At the same time, we are reducing the city’s reliance on outside counsel by implementing reforms that strengthen internal capacity, improve case management, and build a more sustainable and modern litigation model. Meaningful reforms, including hiring a risk manager, establishing billing oversight through a managed bill-review process, engaging an additional third-party reviewer to conduct detailed invoice audits and updating law firm guidelines, reflect some of the steps I’ve taken to fix the system we inherited.
“Fixing” systemic issues take time, but we are committed to addressing these issues and upholding our mission to protect the interests of the city and its residents.
Mary Richardson-Lowry is the corporation counsel for the city of Chicago.
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