Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Question of the day
Next Post: Meanwhile, in Opposite Land…
Posted in:
* Context is yesterday’s testimony by former Chicago Ald. Pat O’Connor, who was hired as a gaming consultant a month after leaving office, but was almost never consulted…
To recap, the Jim Weiss bribery trial has bestowed upon us a new contender for most Illinoisish quote ever:
“That’s the nature of a consulting contract. I fulfilled my end by being available. He fulfilled his end by paying me.”
— Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) June 13, 2023
This is not confined to Illinois. Attorneys call this a retainer, for example.
It’s also not uncommon for people or companies with big bucks to hire an attorney, lobbyist or consultant solely to ensure that nobody else hires the person.
* The topic came up during the ComEd 4 trial. The defendants were accused of hiring a bunch of do-nothing consultants at the behest of Speaker Madigan. According to investigative recordings, then-ComEd CEO Joe Dominguez said he was “fine” with the arrangement, explaining…
“(I)t’s like the lobbying team itself. You know. There are, at periods of time where people are saying, ‘What the hell are these guys doing? Why are we paying them?’ And then they will do something in the minute, in the magic moment.”
Discuss.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 9:51 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: Question of the day
Next Post: Meanwhile, in Opposite Land…
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Oconnor was hired by Rick Heidner as a consultant.
Comment by Regular democrat Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 9:56 am
RD, you’re right. Changed. Thanks.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 9:57 am
At least for a retainer, you just hold on to it until services are rendered then you deduct from it. It’s not a payment that you just get to keep. If no services are rendered, the retainer is returned.
Comment by IllinoisLawyer Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 10:18 am
If you look at a consulting contract or a pitch document, you’ll see the project management team listed as the people the client will deal with on a day-to-day basis. Behind that, you’ll see a long list of “principals” who might only bill a hour or two onto a project to provide advice and guidance…unfortunately it will end up being a very expensive hour or two for that client.
Comment by NIU Grad Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 10:18 am
“We want everybody nobody sent yet.”
Comment by Blue Bayou Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 11:09 am
As pointed out, there’s nothing unusual or explicitly illegal about this. But to average folks on a jury, it’s very unseemly. And as the ComEd Four case showed, it’s not difficult for prosecutors to get jurors who are far removed from the world of lawyers, lobbyists and consultants to see it as a back door bribe. We’ll see if the appellate courts have the same view.
Comment by Roman Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 11:20 am
>far removed from the world of lawyers, lobbyists and consultants to see it as a back door bribe
If the behavior is acceptable only in the world of insiders, lawyers, lobbyists and consultants, isn’t that part of the problem?
Comment by Just Another Anon Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 11:45 am
Nothing like trying to convince a jury tired of corruption that what you did with that envelope or that handful of cash was legit. Illinois, Land of Corruption.
Comment by thisjustinagain Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 11:45 am
===that what you did with that envelope===
Maybe you missed it, but O’Connor hasn’t been charged with anything. Also, none of the no-show ComEd consultants were charged.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 11:46 am
Talking the to the right person at the right time can make a big different. Asking the right person to talk to the right person can make a big difference.
Paying someone because Mike Madigan told to pay someone can make a big difference. Hiring someone because Mike Madigan told you to hire them can make a big difference.
Hiring someone as a lobbyist and then never assigning or asking them to lobby for you for anything specific is, to a certain degree, the employers problem, not the lobbyists’ or consultants’ problem. I do think, however, that a good lobbyist or a good consultant wouldn’t sit around and wait for work to be assigned, but that also depends on the contract.
We also exist in a limbo where our elected officials have outside incomes from their other full time jobs or full time commitments. Someone could go contract future harvests from Darren Bailey’s farm right now for 10 times the market price and that would probably be legal.
A lot of elected officials have a day job and do those jobs well. A lot of lobbyists and consultants do those jobs well and mean the best for the clients.
But someone who gets paid to do nothing — or be available — should be scrutinized. Even Retainers for attorneys have rules due to the Dowling decision.
Maybe we should see some more regulation into lobbying if the plan is to establish an industry practice of do nothing lobbying or do nothing government consulting as being above board.
Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 12:19 pm
The thing about consulting is that “being available” is pretty important. A consultant can’t sit around and not bill hours, so either you pay them to be available or they find a more- active contract.
Kind of like restaurants. It would be nice if you only had to pay staff during the lunch and dinner rush, but it’s not like they can find other jobs for a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon.
Comment by North Park Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 12:47 pm
===a good lobbyist or a good consultant wouldn’t sit around and wait===
The good ones have other contracts keeping them pretty busy.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 1:14 pm
A lot of people have contracts with HVAC providers that cover periodic maintenance and priority service during emergencies. That’s basically what this is. Is the guy doing anything for me right now? No. Is there value to going to the top of the pile during a polar vortex? Yes.
Comment by TradedUpForMitch Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 2:40 pm
=== At least for a retainer, you just hold on to it until services are rendered then you deduct from it. It’s not a payment that you just get to keep. If no services are rendered, the retainer is returned. ===
Lobbyists are not paid by the hour like lawyers are. They are entitled to the fees they are paid so long as they are working consistent with their contractual arrangement. Clients can always terminate the contracts if the lobbyist isn’t pulling their weight.
Comment by Hannibal Lecter Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 3:04 pm
I have a friend who is a consultant and her job is mainly to be available if there is a problem with an ancient computer program. It can be a real challenge to find someone with BAL/370 experience so they pay her full time. And she is available if there is a problem (and attends meetings, coordinates outages with hw team etc.)
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 4:01 pm
===Lobbyists are not paid by the hour like lawyers are.===
They could be. It would depend on the contract. I think what the comparison misses is that one hires an attorney to represent them in court and to prepare legal filings and something that typically amounts to some kind of billable hour. It’d be frowned upon it the attorney simply called up the judge and relied on their long personal relationship to cause a favorable ruling in their clients benefit regardless of the merits of the case against them.
It is a little different for a lobbyist. Sure, you could take time writing great memos and meeting with every member, or you can do whatever someone did to cause Senate President Harmon to put a brick on a bill to protect one of the biggest sources of CO2 pollution in the country at the very last minute.
Because, you know, Senate President Harmon doesn’t operate within the same legal and ethical constraints as a judge does, and lobbyists don’t operate within the same legal and ethical constraints as attorneys.
We can speculate about what kind of relationship that takes, but it’s not achieved with memos and arguments appealing to the best policy position for the future of humanity.
Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 9:19 pm
And then you have Sam Toia who was also a consultant for Weiss. But not only does he not register as a consultant, he doesn’t register as a lobbyist for the Restaurant Association.
Paging the SOS index division…
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 11:52 pm