Conflict of interest draws suspension for West Des Moines lawyer

A lawyer who has spent two decades representing various Iowa cities and counties ­has agreed to a 30-day suspension of his law license due to admitted conflicts of interest.

The disciplinary action stems from a series of incidents involving attorney Matthew Brick of the West Des Moines law firm Brick Gentry.

In an affidavit filed with the Grievance Commission of Supreme Court of Iowa, Brick acknowledges that while representing the city of Muscatine, he shared with the then-city administrator, Gregg Mandsager, information about the City Council’s plans to fire Mandsager. Brick also acknowledges he counseled Mandsager on how to set up the mayor and council for a claim of retaliation Mandsager could file against them.

Previously: Activist's arrests at Newton council meetings raise First Amendment concerns

Court records indicate that situation grew out of a 2017 case in which a district court judge ruled the CityCouncil had illegally removed the mayor, Diane Broderson, from office and Mandsager filed a defamation lawsuit against Broderson and the city.

In April 2019, aware that some council members wanted him fired, Mandsager contacted Brick asking for advice about settling his defamation claim against the city. In his affidavit, Brick admits that he outlined a few options as to how the city administrator could proceed and then wrote, “Either way, you would want to make a big public statement about how much you look forward to working with the mayor and the council so you can set them up for a retaliation claim.”

Brick admits that in the months that followed, as the lawsuit was settled and the council moved forward with plans to fire Mandsager, he provided advice to the council but also continued to communicate with Mandsager, sharing information about the council’s plans and providing advice to Mandsager on how best to proceed with a lawsuit against his client, the city.

Previously: Iowa lawyer faces disbarment after 'long history of misconduct'

Despite that, Brick states in his affidavit, he wrote to a council member and assured him that if Mandsager was to ask for any legal assistance he would tell Mandsager he worked for the council and so Mandsager would need to obtain his own attorney.

Brick acknowledges that even as he provided such assurances to the council, he continued to give advice to Mandsager. At one point, Mandsager was watching a livestream of a council meeting and texting Brick at the meeting, asking Brick to address certain matters. “Hold on,” Brick texted back, “I’m trying to save your job.”

A few weeks later, Brick admits, he texted Mandsager to alert him to the fact that one council member “just outed me as someone working behind the scenes on your behalf. I’m not sure any of them would be surprised by that but it certainly makes it even less likely that they would take my advice.”

In his affidavit, Brick admits that when the council drafted, with Brick’s help, an order terminating Mandsager’s contract with the city, Brick didn’t tell the council that the order’s wording was, in his opinion, legally insufficient ― but he did alert Mandsager to that fact.

In his affidavit, Brick admits that after the council voted to terminate Mandsager’s contract with the city, he texted Mandsager, saying, “These f—ers just made you a lot of money.” Mandsager then sued the city, mayor and council members. That lawsuit, alleging wrongful termination and retaliaton, is still pending and is scheduled for trial in January 2024.

In his affidavit, Brick stated the mistakes he made in handling the Muscatine matters were “all related to my close relationship with the city administrator.”

Previously: Judge clears Steve McFadden of contempt after 'bad advice' from embattled lawyer

Brick did not return calls seeking comment Monday.

In response to Brick’s affidavit consenting to a 30-day suspension, the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board agreed that such a penalty was warranted.

“Over the course of nearly a year, Brick repeatedly violated the fundamental duty of loyalty to his municipality-client by covertly providing legal assistance directly against their interests and by falsely assuring them that he was not providing this assistance to Mandsager,” the board stated. “Brick both revealed information to Mandsager relating to his representation of the city without the city’s informed consent and used that information to the city’s disadvantage. Brick assisted Mandsager — knowing full well that the city was taking steps to discharge Mandsager — by providing advice to Mandsager about ways delay the vote on the termination of his contract, sharing the hired evaluator’s emails with Mandsager, and informing Mandsager that council member (Kelcey) Brackett had not worded the termination letter in accordance with the advice Brick had given him.”

The board said Brick’s “more than 20 years of experience as an attorney” and his “deliberate deception of his client” were aggravating factors in the case.

Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: kobradovich@iowacapitaldispatch.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: West Des Moines lawyer suspended for Muscatine conflict of interest