Beacon Hill lawmakers are lawyering up as state and federal investigators probe hiring practices at the Massachusetts Probation Department.
Campaign finance records indicate a number of lawmakers identified as frequent sponsors of job candidates at the Probation Department have hired lawyers using money from their political accounts. The payments don’t specify why the lawyers were hired, but the fees come at a time when nervousness about the probation investigations is reaching a fever pitch on Beacon Hill.
Sen. Mark Montigny, who was identified in independent counsel Paul Ware’s 2010 report as the lawmaker who referred the most people for probation jobs, used his credit card last year to pay $11,000 to K&S Inc. of Framingham for “public relations, political/legal strategy.” He paid the firm another $16,000 in fees during the two months surrounding the Ware report’s release. The New Bedford Democrat, who did not return phone calls, was reimbursed by his campaign account.
Tom Kiley may be the busiest attorney on Beacon Hill. Campaign finance records indicate Kiley has recently done legal work for Sens. Marc Pacheco of Taunton and Steven Baddour of Methuen, former senator Steven Pangiotakis, and Rep. John Rogers of Norwood. He also represented former House speaker Sal DiMasi during his unsuccessful bid last year to fend off federal charges for steering state contracts to a software firm. DiMasi, who is incarcerated in Kentucky, is currently headed back to Massachusetts, apparently to testify before the federal grand jury in Worcester investigating probation hiring. DiMasi was named in the Ware report as a lawmaker who placed people at probation.
Kiley declined comment about DiMasi and his other clients, but made clear where he stands on any bid by US Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s office to criminalize efforts by lawmakers to land jobs for constituents. “If you show me an elected person who doesn’t take steps to assist his constituents in getting jobs, I won’t vote for that person. I think that’s part and parcel of their job,” Kiley said. “How did the US attorney get her job?”
Other lawmakers who used campaign cash last year to pay for legal services include Rep. Thomas Petrolati of Ludlow, who has retained John Pucci; Sen. Jack Hart of Boston, who retained Nutter, McLennen & Fish; and former House speaker Thomas Finneran, who hired Paul Hynes at about the same time Finneran was called to testify before the federal grand jury.
Former state senator Joan Menard, who has been working as a vice president at Bristol Community College in Fall River since January 2011, reported payments last year from her campaign account to Donaghue, Barrett, and Singal of Boston and K&S Inc. of Framingham for legal services.
Conor Yunits, who works at the Liberty Square Group, a Boston-based political consulting and lobbying firm, said Menard consults lawyers about campaign activities from time to time. When it was pointed out that Menard has been out of politics for more than a year, Yunits said the former senator is not going to comment on why she is retaining attorneys. Yunits said he was acting as a spokesman for Menard because she serves on an advisory board of Liberty Square.
Meet the Author
Associate Editor, CommonWealth
About Paul McMorrow
Paul McMorrow comes to CommonWealth from Banker & Tradesman, where he covered commercial real estate and development. He previously worked as a contributing editor to Boston magazine, where he covered local politics in print and online. He got his start at the Weekly Dig, where he worked as a staff writer, and later news and features editor. Paul writes a frequent column about real estate for the Boston Globe’s Op-Ed page, and is a regular contributor to BeerAdvocate magazine. His work has been recognized by the City and Regional Magazine Association, the New England Press Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He is a Boston University graduate and a lifelong New Englander.
About Paul McMorrow
Paul McMorrow comes to CommonWealth from Banker & Tradesman, where he covered commercial real estate and development. He previously worked as a contributing editor to Boston magazine, where he covered local politics in print and online. He got his start at the Weekly Dig, where he worked as a staff writer, and later news and features editor. Paul writes a frequent column about real estate for the Boston Globe’s Op-Ed page, and is a regular contributor to BeerAdvocate magazine. His work has been recognized by the City and Regional Magazine Association, the New England Press Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He is a Boston University graduate and a lifelong New Englander.
Meet the Author
Editor, CommonWealth
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
Senate President Therese Murray retained Collora LLP. She declined to say why she hired Collora, but said it’s not uncommon for her to use campaign funds for legal work unrelated to her job as Senate president.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s campaign account made payments to Mintz Levin attorney Robert Popeo in 2009 and 2010, but reported no fees for legal services in 2011. Popeo said the speaker cooperated with the independent counsel’s report, but is not a target of the federal criminal investigation.
