Police Chief Loses Defamation Claims Against Union’s Law Firm

Defamation Lawsuits, Public Safety Labor News, Union Attorneys

Mark Elbert was the chief of police for Bellevue, Nebraska. Officers in the Police Department are represented by the Bellevue Police Officers Associa­tion (BPOA). Gary Young and the law firm Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter (KONP) represents the BPOA. At a meeting on September 13, 2017, BPOA members discussed Chief Elbert and some of his…

Deputies’ Union Wins $7.8 Million Judgment Against Former Officers

Fiduciary Duty, Public Safety Labor News, Union Attorneys, Union Funds

The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) represents the more than 7,000 deputy sheriffs working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. ALADS has a seven-member board of directors elected by its voting members. The board in turn selects ALADS’s officers from among the board members. In 2013, the ALADS board selected Armando Macias…

Terminated Officer’s Lawsuit Against Union Lawyer Fails

Malpractice, Public Safety Labor News, Union Attorneys

The Illinois Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by a terminated officer against his union’s lawyer. The Court’s opinion turned on several fundamental principles of legal ethics. The officer, Russell Zander of the Village of Fox Lake, was terminated for various acts of on-the-job misconduct. Zander’s labor organization, the Fraternal Order of Police, assigned…