D.C. Counsel: A Lawyer Embraces His Constituency

The last time A. Scott Bolden faced off against Phil Mendelson, he lost badly, a 64 percent to 36 percent thrashing in a citywide D.C. Council race.

Supporters and detractors attributed the K Street lawyer's poor performance at the polls to a swaggering, aggressive posture that turned off voters.

Bolden, 47, is about to take on Mendelson again, and this time his pugnacious personality might work in his favor.

He is representing Sinclair Skinner, a friend of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's, in a council probe of a donation of a city-owned firetruck and ambulance to a town in the Dominican Republic.

Mendelson (D-At Large) is leading the investigation, along with council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3). They have deposed about a dozen people, and Skinner is scheduled to sit down with them Thursday. He will be the last person to be questioned, and Bolden will be at his side.

Voters might have rejected Bolden's off-putting manner, but he has found a constituency that likes his in-your-face style. He has become the go-to lawyer for individuals entangled in D.C. government scandals.

In addition to Skinner, Bolden's client list includes Brenda Richardson, an aide to council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), who is under investigation for allegedly running nonprofit groups that received earmarks from Barry, and Keith Lomax, another friend of Fenty's, who was illegally driving the mayor's city-issued vehicle and is now being questioned about living in Prince George's County while claiming a resident-owned business in the District.

Bolden, a managing partner at Reed Smith, represented Diane Gustus, a former city employee who was charged in the D.C. tax office scam, in which nearly $50 million was stolen through fraudulent property tax refunds. In September 2008, federal prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence and dropped the charges against Gustus.

Eleven people pleaded guilty in the largest embezzlement scam in the history of local government. Gustus was the only one to walk away. Bolden said his client was innocent. Other attorneys and friends said Bolden's forceful arguments in court and barrage of paperwork contributed to the dismissal of the charges against Gustus. His success in that case gave him "superattorney" status, particularly among those with ties to the John A. Wilson Building.

"You know what I call him?" said a council staffer involved in the probes, referring to Bolden. "The devils' advocate. S-apostrophe."

Bolden, whose father was a prominent lawyer in Joliet, Ill., relishes his new role, which often pits him against the government he once wanted to join. "I've gotten a second life," he said. "There's a better way to serve than having a referendum on my personality, my cockiness, my arrogance."

Public service for Bolden now means continuing his charities, but he is also representing people who have served the city in some capacity as volunteers, advocates or employees and find themselves accused of wrongdoing. "They have a direct impact on the political and government landscape," Bolden said of his clients.