Outside Law Firm Is Hired To Represent Council Staffers

The City Council is hiring the law firm Steptoe & Johnson to represent staffers who may need legal help during the ongoing federal investigation into the council's finances.

A memo from council attorneys earlier this week determined that council members and employees are entitled to taxpayer-funded legal representation as long as they cooperate with investigators and "did not engage in intentional wrongdoing."

It is not yet clear what the cost to taxpayers will be, according to a spokeswoman for Speaker Christine Quinn, Maria Alvarado.

In addition to Steptoe & Johnson, the city currently employs the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell to represent the council and criminal defense lawyer Lee Richards III to represent Ms. Quinn.

Ms. Quinn, a likely candidate for mayor in 2009, defended her handling of the council's finances yesterday at a breakfast forum hosted by Crain's New York Business. Responding to a comment by one of the event's moderators, Greg David, the magazine's editor, that the council slush fund scandal raised doubts about her ability to manage the city's $60 billion-plus budget if elected mayor, Ms. Quinn said people would be able to judge her performance as speaker by her handling of the issue.

"I don't believe we'll be defined by the problem we're in right now," Ms. Quinn said. "I think we'll be defined by whether or not we come up with a solution that will prevent anything like this from happening again — and that is what we're going to do."

Asked whether council members should be allowed to allocate funds to nonprofit organizations that employ their family members, Ms. Quinn said she would have to consult with her colleagues before suggesting any changes to the current policy. She noted that council members are currently required to fill out forms disclosing potential conflicts of interest, lending a measure of transparency to such practices.