Milwaukee County officials dumped a prominent local labor attorney from a case on Tuesday after learning he had recently been ticketed for soliciting a prostitute. Richard Saks , a partner with the Milwaukee-based Hawks Quindel , was arrested on July 17 when Milwaukee police saw him embracing a year-old woman in the front seat of an SUV at W. Hadley St. The woman β who had crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia in her purse β said the two were getting ready to have sex, the report said.
They had chosen that location, she told officers, so they would "not do this in front of any children. Saks was issued a citation for loitering and soliciting a prostitute. He has since paid the fine. The board had recently hired Hawks Quindel to conduct a review of the new state law slashing its power and budget and possibly the pay of supervisors. Board members sought legal advice because of what they say are ambiguities in the measure, which most of them opposed.
The review also could lead to a legal challenge to some provisions of the law. County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said she learned of Saks' arrest for solicitation a few weeks ago. Zaferos said the board will still use Saks' firm to assist with the new law. Saks had already been active on the case. Shortly before supervisors voted to hire Hawks Quindel, he had written the board to list all of the clients his firm had that were suing the county.
Kathy Charlton , a lawyer at Hawks Quindel, issued a statement on behalf of the firm saying it supported Saks as he took the steps "to deal with this situation directly and move beyond. Most prominently, he represents the workers at Palermo's Pizza in their high-profile labor dispute with the company. Saks also is the attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Voces de la Frontera , a Milwaukee immigrants rights group, in a lawsuit aimed at blocking the Republicans' voter ID law.
He previously went to court on behalf of 9to5 β which represents working women β to back Milwaukee's mandatory paid sick leave law. Saks had worked for years for the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association , the union representing Milwaukee teachers. Hawks Quindel is considered one of the region's top labor law firms, representing everyone from the state firefighters association to the transit workers union to the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild , the union for newsroom employees at the Journal Sentinel.
