Markopoulos attorney donates to local Alderman before zoning change granted

It is not uncommon practice for developers and their companies to donate to local Alderman. In the city of Chicago, thanks to the Aldermanic privilege policy, Alderman have nearly unilateral control over the zoning changes and development in their ward.

In cases where developers themselves do not donate, sometimes their lawyers do. Schain, Banks, Kenny and Schwartz - the attorney of George Markopoulos and Praedium Development - has donated to 46th Ward Alderman Cappleman on four occasions since the Alderman's election in 2011.

Most of the donations came recently: in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The law firm's client, George Markopoulos, first brought to the table his proposed Uptown luxury development in early 2016. The 46th Ward Zoning and Development Committee approved the proposal in July of that year.

The law firm was also caught up in controversy in 2016 after Kane County Chairman Chris Lauzen retained their legal services on behalf of the county without informing the County Board. The contract was in the amount of $95,000. "None of the contracts went through legal review by the State's Attorney's office and the Kane County Purchasing Ordinance requires agreements for non-legal professional services which exceed $30,000 must go through the competitive bidding process, which includes the issuance of a request for proposal," stated a city letter.