INDIANAPOLIS - City-County Council president Stephen Clay's legal plight could cost Marion County taxpayers up to $45,000.
Eyewitness News has learned the city's Office of Corporation Counsel will pay well-known Indianapolis attorney Linda Pence $395 per hour to defend Clay in a suit filed by the council clerk Clay fired, along with eight of Clay's fellow council members.
That suit, filed February 8th, claims Clay had no legal authority to fire clerk Trina DeBow and council attorney Fred Biesecker shortly after Clay was elected president last month.
Normally, a city official being sued would be represented by in-house attorneys, but because Clay is being sued by fellow councilors, an outside attorney is being brought in to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
Pence recently joined the firm of SmithAmundsen, LLC. She is a specialist in white collar crime and in 2008 was the Democratic nominee for Indiana attorney general.
The contract calls for her to be paid up to $45,000 to represent Clay thru the end of 2018 but nothing prevents Pence from seeking more if needed.
Clay won the presidency in early January on a 14-11 vote, doing so with help from Republicans after promising them committee chairmanships. At the next council meeting, two of the Democrats who backed Clay withdrew their support, joining a motion to remove Clay as president at the council's February 19 meeting.
Clay has vowed to fight all efforts to remove him from his president. The hearing on whether he had the authority to fire the council clerk and attorney in his capacity as president is set for 10 a.m. Friday.