A lawyer is requesting $1 million in legal fees from Syracuse city government after settling a lawsuit on behalf of a woman who claimed a police officer forced her into sex while he was on the job.

Maleatra Montanez sued for $7 million in 2016 over an encounter with Chester Thompson, 51, in 2015. Thompson was fired by the Syracuse Police Department and convicted of official misconduct.

Just before a civil trial was scheduled to begin in September, the city offered to settle the case for $500,000.

Montanez’s attorney Ed Sivin, of Manhattan, is trying to convince a judge to award him $700 an hour for the work he did in Syracuse.

When plaintiff’s attorneys prevail, they can typically recoup fees from municipalities in civil rights cases. The city was ordered to pay Alonzo Grant’s attorneys $600,000 after a jury awarded him and his wife $1.5 million in a police brutality case.

Sivin argues New York City rates are appropriate in this case because lawyers in Upstate New York were unwilling to take Montanez’s case.

According to court records, Montanez approached several attorneys. She even retained the Syracuse firm Williams & Ruderow for a short time. After 10 months, no local attorneys agreed to pursue the lawsuit. Montanez was repeatedly advised of the “unlikely of prevailing against the city of Syracuse,” Sivin wrote in court papers.

By December 2015, Montanez was ready to give up.

She was discouraged that Thompson was sentenced to probation on criminal charges connected to the case, she wrote in an affidavit.

“I already had seen that justice was not done in the criminal prosecution of Chester Thompson, since he was allowed to plead guilty to ‘official misconduct’ with no jail time," Montanez wrote. “I assumed I would also not be able to get any justice in a civil lawsuit.”

Maleatra Montanez and her supporters protest at Syracuse City Hall over the non-jail sentencing of a former police officer whom Montanez said bullied her into having sex while he was on duty. Ex-cop Chester Thompson was sentenced to three years probation for official misconduct, a charge based on having consensual sex on duty. (Tim Knauss / tknauss@syracuse.com)

Montanez found Sivin’s law firm after her aunt suggested looking on Google for New York City firms that handled police brutality cases.

Sivin, of Sivin & Miller in Manhattan, is requesting $958,531 in attorney’s fees, plus $40,000 in expenses. He requested an hourly rate of $700 (for himself and law partner Glenn Miller), as well as lesser fees for associates and legal assistants who worked on the case. Sivin provided the judge with documentation of the hours worked, tasks and expenses for which he is asking to be reimbursed.

Sivin references a recent Syracuse civil rights verdict against the city in his arguments.

In that case, also before U.S. District Court Judge Brenda Sannes, a jury awarded plaintiff Elijah Johnson $35,000 after finding a police officer used unreasonable force during a 2014 arrest. Sannes ordered the city to pay Johnson’s attorney more than $178,000 in legal expenses. The attorney was compensated at $350 an hour.

Sivin is asking for $700, the maximum allowed by the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. He points to Judge Sannes’ order in the Johnson case, in which she noted a higher fee might be appropriate when local counsel is “unwilling or unable to take the case.”

Sivin argued he achieved “exceptional success,” noting that bringing a case against a cop is especially hard: witnesses were uncooperative, and police officers and municipalities have protections against lawsuits. Several other women came forward with claims against Thompson during the case.

The attorney also noted Thompson was charged with witness intimidation after the former police officer confronted Montanez at an amusement park last summer. (Thompson has signaled he wants to take the criminal case to trial.)

Sivin wrote that when he initially filed the case, the city of Syracuse took a “no-pay position” and requested to opt out of mediation, indicating it was not willing to negotiate a settlement.

Three years later, on the eve of trial, the city offered $500,000 to avoid a trial.

As part of the settlement, the parties agreed the judge would determine the attorney’s fees and expenses. The city has about a week to respond.

Read more on the Chester Thompson case:

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government, education and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992

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