Lawyers rake in fees from Chicago’s wrongful conviction industry

Topline: The City of Chicago has spent almost $160 million paying private lawyers to fight wrongful conviction lawsuits since 2016, but The Chicago Tribune found there is “little evidence that the strategy has paid off financially.”

The city usually ends up settling the lawsuits, giving taxpayers little reason to spend exorbitant amounts on legal fees fighting the suits.

Key facts: The Tribune highlighted numerous examples of Chicago dragging its feet during legal negotiations, which typically drives up settlement costs and allows lawyers to bill more hours.

Thomas Sierra, who sued the city after spending 22 years in jail for murder before his conviction was overturned, said he would have settled his case for less than $7.5 million in 2018. Instead, the city stretched out the legal proceedings and settled last year for $14.7 million. The city also had to pay its lawyers $3 million.

In a 2016 lawsuit filed by couple Ben Baker and Clarissa Glenn, the city hired 40 private lawyers to defend its interests — so many that a district court judge wondered aloud how they would all find seats in the courtroom. The city eventually settled for $7.5 million before the case reached trial, but not before the lawyers earned $5.7 million.

There were more than 12 lawyers who each earned $250,000 to defend the city in reversed-conviction cases last year, the Tribune found. There was even one lawyer who used to work in the Chicago Law Department but is now a private lawyer contracting with the city. She made $600,000.

The longer the city waits to settle, the higher the cost of the eventual payout. The Tribune found that the average one-year wrongful conviction murder case is settled for less than $250,000 per year the plaintiff was behind bars. But when the city takes eight years to settle, the plaintiff gets three times as much.

Certain police officers have cost the city millions for their alleged misconduct. Former detective Reynaldo Guevara allegedly beat suspects to obtain confessions, and the city has spent $140 million to settle 14 related cases. Legal fees cost an additional $47 million. More than 30 lawsuits remain.

Former Sgt. Ronald Watts, who allegedly framed innocent people who refused to pay bribes, was named in 180 lawsuits. The city settled them all for $90 million last year. The Tribune said the quick settlement is a sign the city learned its lesson from past, lengthy legal battles.

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Background: Chicago and other areas of Cook County are national outliers for wrongful convictions. Since 1989, there have been 488 exonerations in Cook County. No other county has more than 232.

Police misconduct unrelated to wrongful convictions is also costly. From 2019 to 2023, Chicago spent $384 million settling accusations against 1,300 police officers.

Summary: There is nothing wrong with Chicago compensating the victims of wrongful convictions, but it should do so without billing taxpayers for excessive legal fees.

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