William Miler, lawyer for the city of New-York
" What is your job ?
I’m a lawyer for the City of New York and my division is called “affirmative litigation division”.
In general, my division represents the City when the City is the party bringing the lawsuit.
What type of cases do you have ?
The types of cases we handle are very diverse and include breach of contract, property damage, insurance coverage, fraud, and certain types of tax evasion. The suits could be brought against compagnies or individuals. The City has many agencies (educatio, design and construction, finance etc.) and they are our clients in these lawsuits. The agencies also have their own in-house-attorneys.
What are your relations with the media ?
I can only speak to my own experience on this subject, but the easy answer is that we have a media department that handles requests from the media. If a case interests the media, they'll contact someone in our media department and if necessary, one of the attorneys handling the case will then be contacted to speak to the reporter directly. I have handled requests for information through this process. I have not received direct requests for information about a case from reporters.
Could you have your own clients on the other side ?
As a lawyer for the City of New York, in general, I can't represent other clients due to conflict of interest rules, even if the representation is in a pro bono capacity. There are certain types of pro bono work that we are allowed to do that do not involve representing another client in court. The rules are designed to avoid a situation where an attorney is representing a client with interests that are potentially adverse to the City. Conflict of interest rules also apply to attorneys in private practice, but they are less restrictive than those applicable to government attorneys."
I’m a lawyer for the City of New York and my division is called “affirmative litigation division”.
In general, my division represents the City when the City is the party bringing the lawsuit.
What type of cases do you have ?
The types of cases we handle are very diverse and include breach of contract, property damage, insurance coverage, fraud, and certain types of tax evasion. The suits could be brought against compagnies or individuals. The City has many agencies (educatio, design and construction, finance etc.) and they are our clients in these lawsuits. The agencies also have their own in-house-attorneys.
What are your relations with the media ?
I can only speak to my own experience on this subject, but the easy answer is that we have a media department that handles requests from the media. If a case interests the media, they'll contact someone in our media department and if necessary, one of the attorneys handling the case will then be contacted to speak to the reporter directly. I have handled requests for information through this process. I have not received direct requests for information about a case from reporters.
Could you have your own clients on the other side ?
As a lawyer for the City of New York, in general, I can't represent other clients due to conflict of interest rules, even if the representation is in a pro bono capacity. There are certain types of pro bono work that we are allowed to do that do not involve representing another client in court. The rules are designed to avoid a situation where an attorney is representing a client with interests that are potentially adverse to the City. Conflict of interest rules also apply to attorneys in private practice, but they are less restrictive than those applicable to government attorneys."