Greenberg Traurig has agreed to pay back $3.2 million in legal fees to Calumet Park that former attorney and shareholder Mark J. McCombs is alleged to have improperly billed the Illinois village.
The Southtown Star reports the repayment is for all attorneys fees dating back to 2002. McCombs was special counsel for Calumet Park for nine years. Earlier this month he was charged with a fraudulent billing scheme that saw the village charged with tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees each month for work that allegedly was never done.
McCombs reportedly embarked on the scheme to raise his status at Greenberg Traurig. He was fired by the firm March 5.
According to the report, the funds should be received from Greenberg Traurig in the next few weeks. Paul Fox, managing shareholder of the firm, said only about 10 percent of the fees McCombs charged were actually legitimate.
“The only silver lining in any of this is for us is that money is going back to people who need it,” Fox told the Star. “We’re helping a community and some school districts. We thought that the appropriate thing to do was return all the fees.”