Claverack’s special counsel goes AWOL

In an unexpected and inexplicable new twist, the lawyer hired by the Town of Claverack to make its case at last week’s cringe-making hearing to remove firefighter Nathan Chess from the planning board suddenly appears to be off the case.

A leaked email sent to special counsel Dionne Wheatleigh, who conceded drafting most of the brief attacking Chess that was signed by Supervisor Robin Andrews, yielded this automated response yesterday afternoon:

I have retired from RWGM.  All of my messages are being forwarded to Elayne Gold. 

 

For further assistance, please contact Karen Pelland at 518-464-1300 ext. 406

Thank you,

 

Dionne Wheatley

Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux LLP

At the hearing, Wheatley certainly did not appear to be of retirement age, leading one to suspect an inapt choice of words. A second message sent yesterday evening from Wheatley’s account appeared to be hand-typed, not automated:

Please be advised that as of 9/30/13, I will no longer be with the firm and thus will not be accessing email.  Emails to this email address may be viewed by another colleague for a short time.  Additional communications such as the documents from Mr. Chess and the hearing transcript should be mailed to me as indicated below.

The second message is even more difficult to parse: Why would follow-up materials related to the hearing be mailed to Wheatley, if she is “retired” or “no longer... with the firm?”

Where does the Town’s heavyhanded campaign impugning Chess’s character stand, if their attorney who spent months preparing their case has decamped? Getting a new attorney up to speed on the endlessly byzantine and not-terribly-convincing line of argument crafted by Wheatleigh with Andrews would seem both time-consuming, and costly. Reportedly, one of the firm’s partners has been assigned to the matter, at least for the moment.