DETROIT — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain dumped attorneys from a Chicago law firm that was paid more than $3.2 million to handle the union's response to a landmark federal corruption investigation after firing UAW General Counsel Abigail Carter and two members of the union's legal team.
Attorneys from Cotsirilos, Tighe, Streicker, Poulos & Campbell revealed the rift in a federal court filing Wednesday that marks the latest development as Fain remakes the union's legal team amid ongoing oversight by a court-appointed government watchdog. That watchdog, UAW monitor Neil Barofsky, appointed to root out corruption and oversee reforms in one of the nation's most influential and troubled unions, has described in court filings a rocky start to the UAW's rehabilitation and revealed new ongoing federal investigations.
The move by Fain leaves the UAW without veteran criminal defense lawyers who have experience with the union's entrenched corruption as well as dealing with a government team of prosecutors and investigators in Detroit and U.S. District Judge David Lawson, who is overseeing reforms. The investigation led to 18 convictions and prolonged government oversight of the UAW and Stellantis NV due to a series of crimes by high-ranking officials who paid and pocketed bribes, broke labor laws and stole money from union members.
