Edward Siskel
Edward Siskel
Stephen R. Patton
Stephen R. Patton

With the Department of Justice releasing its long-awaited report on Chicago policing tactics, Stephen R. Patton, the city’s corporation counsel, believes it’s time for a change of scenery.

Patton will step down from the position he has held since May 2011 sometime in February. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has named Edward Siskel, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP as his replacement.

“There comes a time when you’re leaving the city in a reasonably good place and that you’re not leaving anyone in the lurch. I could see that coming last fall. That’s when I originally advised the mayor that I was going to leave, and we worked through a transition plan that made sense,” Patton said.

An exact date hasn’t been set for Siskel to officially take over, but Patton said it will occur sometime in mid-February, adding still he has things on his to-do list.

Patton said it’s rare for an official like him to be able to work on his own transition plan while preparing his successor before the role. Siskel accepted the job back in December, around the holidays, Patton said.

“Other things I am trying to wrap up … the reason why it wasn’t publicly acknowledged or announced is because I wanted to continue to be effective in addressing some of these challenges,” Patton said.

Where is next after City Hall? Patton said he doesn’t know.

“I have not decided on what my next chapter is going to be. I do know there is going to be a next chapter,” Patton said. “I love being a lawyer. I love this job, I love being a public servant.”

“I haven’t had a job I haven’t loved since I was 15 when I de-tasseled corn for a $1 an hour,” he added.

Patton’s announced exit comes less than a week after DOJ found the Chicago Police Department regularly used force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Patton’s tenure at the Law Department has also been marked by sanctions imposed on the city Law Department by federal judges for not immediately turning over documents during discovery in lawsuits against CPD.

An independent review of the Law Department by former federal prosecutor Dan K. Webb released in July found no proof that evidence was intentionally concealed by the Law Department in roughly 1,800 civil cases between 2011 and 2016. The Winston & Strawn LLP partner made 19 recommendations for the city to improve its discovery processes.

Patton said he told the mayor he would stay on until the DOJ report was released. He initially planned to leave more than a year ago, before a Cook County judge ordered the city to release the dash cam video showing Jason Van Dyke, a white police officer, shooting Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old, 16 times.

The Justice Department launched its investigation into the CPD as a result of the McDonald video’s release. Patton touted his “quarterbacking” on behalf of the city during the DOJ probe as one of the highlights of his public career.

“I stayed on to try to help the mayor and the city address those issues,” Patton said. “By the fall, it was my view we were in a better place the city was in a better place, and it was appropriate to revisit the question of moving. I wanted to do so in a way that didn’t leave the mayor and the city in a lurch.”

As the federal investigation began, the city retained two outside law firms, one of which was WilmerHale.

Although Siskel is a member of the firm, Siskel did not work with the city on the DOJ report. Patton said he was recommended by a friend.

“I couldn’t be more excited about Ed,” Patton said. “He’s got great qualifications and he is a good guy, and he shares my vision and, more importantly, my values in terms of providing first-rate legal advice and representation for the city. First rate and the highest integrity.”

Both Emanuel and Siskel served overlapping terms with Barack Obama’s administration, with Emanuel serving as the former president’s chief of staff and Siskel as deputy White House counsel.

Siskel, according to a press release from the mayor’s office, advised clients on “government enforcement actions, internal investigations, regulatory and congressional proceedings and complex litigation.”

“Having started my legal career in Chicago, I look forward to coming home and returning to public service on behalf of the [c]ity and its residents,” Siskel, a University of Chicago Law School graduate, said in a statement. “The work of the Law Department has significant impact on people’s quality of life, and I’m looking forward to serving the people of Chicago.”

Siskel’s uncle was legendary Chicago film critic Gene Siskel.

Under Patton’s tenure at the Law Department, the city shed the Shakman Decrees that enforced a prohibition on politically motivated hiring within the city’s workforce. Those decrees, and the independent federal monitor that came with them, were removed in June 2014 after a “heavy lift,” Patton said.

He also played a major role in crafting reparations for victims who were tortured by former Chicago police commander Jon Burge and his officers, as well as the ordinance that supplanted the Independent Police Review Authority with the new Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

“Over the past six years, Steve has worked tirelessly on behalf of the city, and approached every issue, every case and every question with integrity,” Emanuel said in a statement. “While his departure is not immediate, when Steve does leave, he will be able to do so knowing his work made a difference for Chicago and its residents.”

Patton spent 32 years at Kirkland & Ellis LLP prior to becoming the city’s corporation counsel.

His practice at Kirkland focused on complex commercial litigation, and has represented clients like R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Verizon Wireless and Ameritech.