Washington lawyer to become lawyer for the city of Chicago

CHICAGO (AP) - The city of Chicago is getting a new corporation counsel.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has chosen Washington attorney Edward Siskel to replace departing city attorney Steve Patton.

Siskel experience includes stints as a deputy White House Counsel under President Barack Obama. He was a federal prosecutor in Chicago and a law clerk for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Patton is stepping down a week after the U.S. Justice Department wrapped up its year-long investigation of the Chicago Police Department. Patton negotiated an agreement committing the city to a court-enforced consent decree and the hiring of a federal monitor.

The 63-year-old Patton says the decision to leave the post in mid-February was his alone. He adds it has nothing to do with the controversy over the Law Department's failure to turn over evidence in civil cases to plaintiffs in a timely manner.