This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 7, 2009 - The legal fight may not be over for Scott Eckersley, the former lawyer to former Gov. Matt Blunt whose firing in 2007 sparked that long-running battle over government emails.
Eckersley is to be in St. Louis next week to meet with Chet Pleban, a lawyer who has made his reputation representing high-profile fired government employees, including policemen.
Pleban also has his own ties to the email controversy. He was the lawyer for the special investigative team set up by then-Attorney General Jay Nixon to probe the email retention practices in Blunt's office.
Pleban ended up having his own issues after the team had a rocky finish late last year, when court-appointed lawyers reached a settlement with Blunt and former aides over a court suit that the team had initially filed.
In any case, Eckersley is declining to discuss why he's meeting with Pleban. But it's public record that Eckersley fired his own lawyers several weeks ago, because of disagreements over his settlement of the suit. Eckersley just recently cashed the $500,000 settlement check with the state.
Eckersley confirmed Friday that he has yet to receive the apology letter he is seeking from the office of now-Gov. Nixon, to make clear that the accusations of personal misconduct made by Blunt's aides were unfounded. Eckersley says such a letter was part of his settlement.
