The Del Galdo Law Group, a Berwyn-based municipal law firm which until recently had served as the lawyers for the scandal-plagued administration of Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard, has filed a defamation lawsuit against competitor Burt Odelson who represented Dolton's Village Board, claiming allegedly false statements from Odelson led the village board to stop paying Del Galdo and forcing that firm to cease representing Henyard's administration and the village.
On June 11, the Del Galdo Law Group filed suit in Cook County Circuit court against Odelson.
The lawsuit is the latest court fight to erupt from the village of Dolton, which is beset by allegations of corruption and other misconduct claims against Henyard and members of her administration.
Burt S. Odelson
| osmfm.com
Henyard and her political allies and aides are reportedly under investigation by the FBI amid a host of accusations.
At the same time, Henyard and the village have been hammered with a haul of lawsuits from current and former village employees who accuse the mayor of illegal retaliation, wrongful firings, intimidation and other alleged misconduct, and from journalists and others who assert Henyard has violated Illinois law repeatedly by blocking public access to public documents and information about the village's business.
Amid all of the claims of corruption and other controversy, Henyard and the village board have consistently been at odds, particularly as they vie for control of Dolton's purse.
As part of that dispute, Henyard and the village board have each employed attorneys, who both have claimed to represent the village in some capacity.
On one side, Henyard handed a contract to the Del Galdo firm, purportedly to represent the village. The contract reportedly was awarded without consulting the village board or receiving a vote of approval.
The Del Galdo firm represents a host of Chicago area suburban cities, villages, school districts, community colleges and other taxpayer-funded bodies. The firm has described itself as "one of the most prominent political firms in the state."
The firm and its founder and managing partner, Michael Del Galdo, has longstanding ties to once-powerful, now indicted Illinois House Speaker and former state Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan. Notably, former Illinois State Rep. Lou Lang, a former top Madigan deputy, had worked with the Del Galdo firm as recently as 2019. Del Galdo was also an early backer of the first gubernatorial campaign of Gov. JB Pritzker, reportedly helping to broker a meeting between Pritzker and Cicero Town President Larry Dominick and other political figures in 2018.
Opposite Henyard and Del Galdo in Dolton, the village board of trustees hired Odelson and his firm, Odelson Murphey Frazier & McGrath, to also represent the village. Officially, the Odelson firm is classified as legislative counsel for the village.
In April, the Del Galdo firm withdrew from representing Dolton, claiming the village board had "voted to stop paying" them and noting in a letter to the board and Henyard that: "No one wants to represent the Village." They further asserted Dolton was quickly approaching the point of being "uninsurable."
In the meantime, Henyard's administration has been represented in at least one pending legal matter by prominent Illinois Democratic Party lawyer Michael J. Kasper, of Chicago. Kasper has a longstanding relationship to the indicted Madigan and to Del Galdo. Kasper is also currently representing current Democratic Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch as Welch seeks to overturn a Springfield judge's ruling declaring unconstitutional a new state election law passed by Democrats which would effectively block dozens of Republicans from the ballot this fall.
Until April, in practice, Del Galdo had represented Henyard and her administration, while the Odelson firm continues to represent the village trustees.
The splintered relationship has helped to fuel Dolton's growing reputation for governmental dysfunction, as the village has generated repeated headlines locally and nationally.
According to Del Galdo's lawsuit, Del Galdo blames Odelson for persuading the village trustees to allegedly cut off the Del Galdo firm's funding.
The lawsuit points to two specific instances. First, according to the lawsuit, Odelson told the village trustees during a special board meeting in February that the Del Galdo firm had a "conflict of interest" in representing the village and were allegedly allowing lawsuits against the village to go to default judgment.
Then, according to the complaint, the next day, Odelson during an interview on WGN Radio 720 AM said the village "isn't getting the representation it should." The Del Galdo firm asserts that statement was aimed at Del Galdo.
The lawsuit asserts Odelson's statements were false, and Odelson allegedly knew they were false.
"Defendant Odelson's defamatory remarks about Plaintiff caused the relationship between the Village of Dolton Board of Trustees and Plaintiff (Del Galdo) to deteriorate," the Del Galdo firm said.
The complaint further asserted the Del Galdo firm withdrew as Dolton's legal counsel in April "because of Defendant Odelson's interference in the relationship between (Del Galdo) and the Village."
The Del Galdo firm asserts Odelson made the statements "to induce the Village of Dolton to push out (Del Galdo) and hire the Odelson Law Firm as its sole legal counsel."
The Del Galdo firm has asked the court for a jury trial and for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
In an interview with The Cook County Record, Odelson called Del Galdo's allegations "baseless" and "insulting."
Odelson asserted the Del Galdo firm has been paid about $1 million over the past two years to represent the Henyard administration as special counsel and village prosecutor. Meanwhile, Odelson said his firm has been paid nothing to date to serve as legislative counsel, as Henyard allegedly has refused to allow the village government to pay the Odelson firm for their work.
Odelson noted he has served as municipal attorney for "many, many, many municipalities" for more than 52 years, and has rarely experienced a situation as difficult as that ongoing in Dolton. He noted the village currently has no official attorney.
"We're the only ones who haven't quit on the village," Odelson said. "I'm on the good side here. We're standing with the (village) board and the people of Dolton."
The Del Galdo firm is represented in the lawsuit by by attorneys Jon Loevy and Gianna Gizzi, of the firm of Loevy & Loevy, of Chicago.
The Loevy firm currently has legal matters pending against the village of Dolton, including a lawsuit involving a deadly crash resulting from a police chase, with more than $33 million on the line.
Attorney Kasper is defending Dolton in that particular legal action.