Clerk let lawyer keep caucus client secret
10:28 AM 5/21/02
Phil Brinkman State government reporter
indentAmong the heap of legal bills the chief clerks of the state Assembly and Senate have paid so far in the criminal probe of the legislative caucuses is one for a person known only to that individual's attorney.
indentThe bill from Milwaukee lawyer Pamela Pepper is relatively small: $2,910 reflecting occasional work over two months. But it appears to be the only bill in a stack of invoices, released this month after three newspapers went to court to get them, that doesn't identify the client.
indentThe person is described only as "an employee of one of the legislative caucuses."
indentAsked about the bill Tuesday, Pepper said the identity of her client was confidential. She said former Assembly Chief Clerk John Scocos told her she could submit the invoice without her client's name. The bill was paid Jan. 15.
indent"The only way I would feel I could tell you who my client was is if my client gave me permission to do that," Pepper said Tuesday.
indentBut Assistant Assembly Clerk Patrick Fuller, who took over for Scocos in March, said the clerk's office had a policy requiring lawyers to identify their clients.
indent"If she doesn't want to let us know, then I'm going to have to try to get the money back," Fuller said.
indentScocos, now deputy secretary at the state Department of Veterans Affairs, did not return two messages left for him Tuesday.
indentJay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, which is suing to stop the legal payments, called the mystery bill "unfathomable."
indent"The bottom line is, your bill will get paid almost regardless of what information you provide to the clerks and the public," he said.
indentThe invoice brings to 60 the number of former or current staffers who have received taxpayer-funded legal help. Five legislators also have received the free legal help.
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