Illinois’ new House Speaker has decided to redefine his role with his former law firm.
But what exactly that means for the Speaker, the law firm and the state – thanks to the Speaker’s broad powers to control legislation in Springfield – remains an open question.
On Saturday, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch announced he was “stepping back” from his role as partner at the firm of Ancel Glink P.C.
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin
| Illinois General Assembly
Instead, Welch said, he would take on the title “Of Counsel.”
Welch made history in January when Democrats in the state House of Representatives selected him as the new Speaker, making Welch, of suburban Hillside, the first Black person to hold that office in Illinois.
Welch succeeded former Speaker Michael J. Madigan, of Chicago, who had previously occupied the Speaker’s office for nearly all of the past four decades. Madigan was all but forced out of the office, after a cohort of at least 19 Democratic colleagues in the House publicly pledged to refuse to support his reelection as Speaker, amid an ongoing federal corruption probe that has engulfed his political operations.
Welch has not been implicated in the federal corruption probe.
As Welch took office, questions had been raised about how his new office and status might impact his private sector employment.
Welch, a lawyer by profession, has served as a partner at Ancel Glink since 2018. Before that, he served as partner at the firm of Sanchez Daniels and Hoffman, from 2007-2018. He was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2013.
Welch’s wife, known professionally as ShawnTe M. Raines, also serves a partner at Ancel Glink.
In announcing his decision concerning his role at Ancel Glink, Welch released a prepared statement, saying:
“When I was elected Speaker, I promised to model the kind of leadership we need to restore the public’s confidence in our ethics. As a simple first step, I have stepped back from my role as partner at Ancel Glink. I will remain with the firm, but as of yesterday my relationship with the firm is of counsel. This is similar to the course of action taken by other leaders in the General Assembly.
Ancel Glink shares my commitment to improving Illinois government and is supportive of this adjusted role. I thank the firm for understanding my decision to focus on serving the public and leading the state through these immensely challenging times.”
PARTNER VS 'OF COUNSEL'
The difference between partner and counsel roles is significant, said Sari Montgomery, an attorney with the firm of Robinson Stewart Montgomery & Doppke, of Chicago. Montgomery specializes in legal ethics, working with lawyers and firms on both firm and practice structure and professional responsibility.
Montgomery declined to address Welch’s decision directly, speaking only to professional questions.
Partners hold direct roles in the life, business and governance of their firms, depending on their precise status within the firm, and may also share in the firm’s profits and losses, she said.
By contrast, attorneys holding the title “Of Counsel” need only maintain a “close and continuing relationship” with the firm, she said.
“There needs to be some substance to it,” Montgomery said. “It can’t just be in name only.”
Of Counsel roles are often held by independent practitioners who desire to affiliate with a firm for a range of professional reasons, without abandoning their outside practices.
However, in many other instances, Of Counsel roles are filled by former law firm partners who may be heading toward retirement, but wish to maintain a less intense law practice and affiliation with their firm for a time.
Welch has not indicated he is considering retirement from the practice of law.
Montgomery noted that partners may typically work under certain contractual rules, requiring them to bring in a certain amount of business for the firm.
By contrast, those working as Of Counsel generally have no such revenue generating responsibilities.
Of Counsel attorneys, however, are still expected to continue to perform “conflict checks” of clients and potential clients. Essentially, they are not to represent clients that would produce conflicts of interest for the firm, Montgomery said.
While they are to maintain a “close and continuing relationship” with the affiliated firm, Of Counsel attorneys do not necessarily need to perform legal work to be paid through the firm, Montgomery said.
While Of Counsel attorneys can be compensated based on their actual work product, compensation arrangements for lawyers holding that status varies greatly, depending entirely on the contract arrangements the attorneys work out with their firms.
“It could be based entirely on good will,” Montgomery said. “If the firm benefits from a lawyer being affiliated with them, they could be compensated on that basis, as well.”
'STEP BACK' VS RESIGNATION
The Cook County Record posed questions on Feb. 1 to both Welch’s office and the Ancel Glink firm, seeking more details on such issues as:
- How Welch will maintain a “close and continuing relationship” with the firm, to keep his Of Counsel status;
- Whether Welch will continue to practice law while serving as Speaker, and in which areas;
- How Welch will be compensated by the firm for any work he may perform, or any benefits his name may bring to the firm; and
- Under what circumstances would Welch abstain from participating in legislative actions that may affect like local governments and other clients represented by Ancel Glink.
The lead partners at Ancel Glink – known as its Management Committee of Equity Partners – also said they would “have nothing to add to the statement issued by Speaker Welch.”
Welch’s decision to simply “step back,” rather than resign from the firm, stood in contrast to that of his counterpart in the state Senate. There, Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, opted to resign completely from his former law firm, Burke Burns & Pinelli, when he was elected leader of the General Assembly chamber in January 2020.
That decision appeared to be spurred, at least in part, to avoid appearances of conflict of interest that had generated criticism for other legislative leaders.
Madigan, for instance, remained partner at his firm, Madigan & Getzendanner, of Chicago, while he was Speaker. That firm deals heavily in representing commercial property owners appealing their property taxes and tax assessments.
Political opponents and others asserted Madigan’s firm had leveraged his position to build its business representing those property owners.
Such relationships have not been uncommon in Illinois politics.
Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, for instance, now faces federal criminal charges for allegedly using his former position as chairman of the powerful Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee to allegedly shake down property owners, to steer business to his firm, Klafter & Burke.
Welch, however, does not represent such tax appellants.
Rather, at both Ancel Glink and the Sanchez firm, Welch’s legal work centered on representing local governments, such as municipalities and public school districts.
That, however, may raise other concerns.
Local governments, for instance, are treated in the Illinois state constitution as “political subdivisions” of the state government itself, not completely independent governing bodies.
Illinois laws establish many of the ways local governments can raise and collect taxes; how they can set rules and regulations for their residents, including land zoning rules; how they can negotiate and bargain with unions and vendors; how they must pay employees and contractors; and how elections are held at all levels of government, among many other issues and powers.
Ancel Glink stands out among firms representing local governments in Illinois.
The firm represents local governments throughout the Chicago area and central Illinois, from its offices in Chicago, the suburbs and downstate Bloomington.
The firm further boasts on its website of the extent of its work, claiming it “wrote the book on Illinois municipal law.” The marketing flourish references Ancel Glink’s work in partnering with the Illinois Municipal League, to publish the “Illinois Municipal Handbook,” a guide to the state laws governing Illinois’ local governments.
The Illinois Municipal League is an association representing the interests of cities and other local governments, lobbying on their behalf in Springfield.
REPUBLICAN SILENCE?
Illinois Republicans have largely been silent on Welch’s decision related his law practice.
At the time Welch was elected Speaker, Republicans in the General Assembly and elsewhere in the state had voiced concerns over Welch’s prior relationship with Madigan, as Welch has also been considered a political ally of Madigan’s. House Republicans specifically accused Welch of torpedoing the work of a committee created to investigate the allegations that have implicated Madigan.
The silence over Welch’s law practice move extended to the Republicans in the Illinois House.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, is listed Of Counsel at the Chicago firm of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr. According to his bio on the firm’s site, Durkin is described as a “commercial litigator” who “conducts internal investigations for private and public entities” and who “advises local governments on economic development and public finance matters.”
A Welch spokesperson, in response to questions posed by Illinois political journalist and blogger Rich Miller, referenced Durkin’s experience in helping to guide Welch’s decision.
However, Republican former state representative and congressional nominee Jeanne Ives said Welch’s decision should raise concerns over a “huge conflict of interest,” given the Ancel Glink firm’s “entrenched” positions as “legal advisors to many local units of government.”
“Let’s be clear here,” Ives said in an emailed statement. “Welch’s law firm represents governments in every single important issue to government…
“My concern is for taxpayers, as local governments tend to work against taxpayers in Illinois, even when they are supposed to represent them in litigation or contract negotiations.
“I have big concerns on Welch’s ability to stick up for taxpayers; he has no record of doing so in the past.”
Editor's note: This article has been revised from an earlier version, which incorrectly characterized the relationship between the Illinois Municipal League and the law firm of Ancel Glink. That error has been corrected.