Law Firm Shouldn't Have Represented Local Bars while ABC Attorney was on their Payroll, Giattino and Fisher Say - TAPinto.net
HOBOKEN, NJ - Hoboken Councilwomen Jen Giattino and Tiffanie Fisher have asked for an investigation into the restructuring of two Hoboken bar liquor licenses after learning that the attorney representing the city’s ABC Board is employed by the firm representing those bars.
Giattino and Fisher said they learned that the law firm Schenk, Price, Smith & King was handling the ownership restructuring of two local Hoboken bars, McSwiggan’s and Green Rock, while John Allen, a city employee and the attorney for the local Alcohol and Beverage Commission Board, was also employed as one of Firm’s attorneys.
“Assistant Corporation Counsel John Allen resigned as Counsel for the Alcohol Beverage Control Board on October 13,” City Spokesperson Marilyn Baer told TAPinto Hoboken when asked about the possible conflict. “He chose to resign to avoid future potential conflicts. As previously disclosed, Mr. Allen is affiliated with Schenck, Price, Smith & King LLP.”
Hoboken does allow attorneys of its boards to work for or own private legal firms, according to local ordinance, as long as the attorney gives priority to city obligations over private practices so that there will be no conflicts of interest.
Baer continued to explain that Allen resigned from the position with the city “instead of simply recusing himself on individual matters pertaining to the license holder,” and therefore “went the extra mile to resolve the matter.”
Any allegations to the contrary are unsubstantiated and without merit,” she said, offering that Schenck, Price, Smith & King LLP has never appeared before the ABC Board, nor has it “received or sought any governmental action whatsoever by the ABC Board or any other municipal board.”
Giattino, who filed a request for information on Oct.15 and was first told she would not receive a response until Nov. 10, after the upcoming election where the mayor and three City Council seats are being contested, still doesn’t buy it.
“We learned that Schenk Price was representing at least one liquor license holder back in September. So, getting these responses from Hoboken’s Corporation Counsel means that Hoboken either has no controls in place to manage conflicts like this or the Bhalla administration condones this behavior, or both,” she said in a statement that indicated she was initially told that Brian Aloia, Hoboken’s Corporation Counsel, had no knowledge that the firm Allen was employed by was representing Hoboken bars. “It is not acceptable that John Allen, who the mayor considers his ‘liaison to the bars and restaurants’, while serving as ABC board attorney representing Hoboken in connection with all liquor license holder matters, is also working for a law firm that now represents license holders before this same board.”
She eventually got Hoboken’s Corporation Counsel Brian Aloia to confirm on Oct. 20 that Allen is affiliated with the firm, Giattino said, one week after a report in another online outlet quoted the spokesperson for the Bhalla Administration saying that Allen resigned as counsel to the ABC Board on Oct. 13.
With the dates not adding up, Giattino and Fisher said, further investigation is required.
“This is not an issue of recusal or even resignation from the position. This is a material conflict and breach of attorney ethics for all involved, not just Mr. Allen," Fisher added in the statement. "How does Schenk Price knowingly take on clients that go before Hoboken’s ABC Board when on their own website they describe Allen as serving as Board Counsel for that same board? And what does it say for Hoboken’s mayor and corporation counsel, both attorneys, who allow this to happen under their watch?”
“Corporation Counsel has reviewed this matter and considers it closed,” Baer concluded.
source: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/hoboken/sections/government/articles/law-firm-shouldn-t-have-represented-local-bars-while-abc-attorney-was-on-their-payroll-giattino-and-fisher-say
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.