A lawyer advising the city evaluation committee considering proposals for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site has rejected accusations that he and his firm have a conflict of interest. A local law professor and expert on legal ethics agreed with him. At Tuesday's public meeting, civic activist Janet Hayes told the five-member committee of Landrieu administration officials...
A lawyer advising the city evaluation committee considering proposals for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site has rejected accusations that he and his firm have a conflict of interest. A local law professor and expert on legal ethics agreed with him.
At Tuesday's public meeting, civic activist Janet Hayes told the five-member committee of Landrieu administration officials she was concerned that it had hired Stone Pigman to advise it on legal issues when the firm has a relationship with Darryl Berger, a member of the Tricentennial Consortium, one of the three prospective developers.
Stone Pigman represented Berger in several significant real estate transactions that involved Canal Place, Jax Brewery, the Windsor Court, the Loews Hotel, the Omni Royal Orleans and the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel.
Attorney Scott Whittaker, the Stone Pigman lawyer who sat with the committee during Tuesday's meeting, said the concerns are unfounded since his firm does not currently represent Berger.
"We're representing the New Orleans Building Corp. and don't have anything to do with Tricentennial," Whittaker said.
The NOBC is the public benefit corporation that acts as landlord for the city-owned WTC building and will negotiate a lease with whatever group is eventually chosen to redevelop the building or site.
The Tricentennial Consortium includes seven local tourism organizations and Berger is a board member of two, the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau and the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp. He is chairman of the board of the latter group and is one of the chief public spokesmen for the consortium, which wants to demolish the now-vacant WTC building.
Loyola law professor Dane Ciolino said Stone Pigman is not in violation of Louisiana legal ethics if, as Whittaker said, it is not currently representing Berger in this or any other matter.
As for claims that Whittaker's role could slant the selection process in favor of Tricentennial, the city discussed the issue prior to hiring Stone Pigman and determined such a conflict of interest did not exist, said Tyler Gamble, spokesman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
"The city publicly procured Stone Pigman to handle public benefit corporation real estate matters. In that capacity, Scott Whittaker is advising the committee," Gamble said. "He is not a voting member of the committee."
Kelly Schulz with the Convention & Visitors Bureau, who is acting as a spokeswoman for Tricentennial, did not respond to requests for comment.
The three potential developers -- James H. Burch LLC of Clifton, Va., Gatehouse Capital Corp. based in Dallas, and the Tricentennial Consortium --presented their plans Tuesday to the evaluation committee, which is expected to make a recommendation in a few weeks to the New Orleans Building Corp.