City Announces Plans For Third Party Probe Of Law Department

(CBS) -- The city of Chicago announced plans Sunday morning for a third-party review of the city Law Department's Federal Civil Right's division. The move comes after last week's ruling by a judge that a city attorney hid evidence in the case of a fatal police shooting.

The Federal Civil Rights Litigation defends the city and Chicago Police officers in federal cases and the review will examine the divisions standards and practices, the Law Department said in the release.

The third-party review will be headed by former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, who will be assisted by Robert Michaels, a partner at Winston & Strawn law firm and former assistant U.S. attorney, Mary RObinson, a principal at Robinson Law Group LLC, and Steven Lubet,a professor at Northwestern University School of Law.

The law department says the review will, "will include a particular focus on discovery practices and procedures and attorney training and supervision." The release says Webb will report any evidence of past or present misconduct to the city inspector general and will provide a public written report.

Last week, a top city attorney, Jordan Marsh, resigned in disgrace, after U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang sanctioned the city and ordered a new trial over a fatal 2011 police shooting, because Marsh had intentionally withheld an audio recording about the shooting of Darius Pinex and then lied about doing it.

"We have zero tolerance for any action that undermines the trust of the residents we serve," said Corporation Counsel Steve Patton in a statement. "Working with respected experts in the field, we are taking immediate action to ensure that city attorneys never again repeat the violations that were made in the Pinex case and maintain the highest professional standards going forward."

The Law Department says it is taking immediate action to improve its ethics training to its attorneys and paralegals.