Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick must attach himself as a plaintiff to a lawsuit to combat ouster proceedings against him if he wants lawyers hired by the city to represent him, a judge ruled today.
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“The mayor is certainly a party of interest in this matter,” Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski told lawyers this morning.
Ziolkowski, after extensive legal arguments Monday morning, made the ruling after a request by Bill Goodman, the City Council's special lawyer, to name Kilpatrick as the real client of Godfrey Dillard and Robert Sedler, who filed suit claiming the council's forfeiture efforts are fatally flawed.
Dillard said he still represents the citizens of Detroit, and he plans to convey Ziolkowski’s ruling to the mayor.
Goodman claimed victory, but Dillard also claimed victory saying he still represents the city.
Sedler, a Wayne State University law professor, and Dillard, a civil rights lawyer, said they represent the City of Detroit -- acting on behalf of the general population to assure the City Charter is followed.
Although they were brought on board by the city's Law Department and their suit was approved by the mayor, Dillard said their interest is protecting the charter and not Kilpatrick personally.
Sedler did not attend today’s hearing.
