Lawyers in Detroit Mayor’s Text Message Case Face Ethics Charges

Attorney Mike Stefani and four other lawyers have been charged with ethics violations for using a “salacious trove” of text messages as leverage to procure $8.4 million as settlement for two lawsuits against ex-Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Stefani obtained Kilpatrick’s text messages, which detail an intense sexual relationship between Kilpatrick and his chief of staff Christine Beatty, by sending a subpoena to SkyTel Inc., the city’s communications provider. He received them in October 2007, a few weeks after the conclusion of a trial brought by Stefani on behalf of police officers who claimed that Kilpatrick punished them because they were investigating wrongdoing by his inner circle. At the trial, Kilpatrick denied having an affair with a top aide – the text messages are proof of Kilpatrick’s perjury on that issue. The police officers got a jury verdict for $6.5 million in that case

Stefani disclosed the messages to city attorneys while trying to negotiate his legal fees related to winning the case. Reportedly, Stefani said he would unveil them – and Kilpatrick’s perjury – in a court filing the next day, after which Kilpatrick agreed to the $8.4 million deal.

The Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission filed a nine-page complaint, alleging that Stefani and the other attorneys used the messages to get a settlement and agreed to conceal both the messages and Kilpatrick’s perjury as part of the deal. Stefani denies that he did anything dishonest or criminal, saying that he was “simply representing my clients to the best of my ability.” The other four attorneys charged include lawyers who worked on the settlement on behalf of Kilpatrick or the city.