Law firm's clout fading at Chicago City Hall

The long relationship the Chicago law firm of Katten Muchin Rosenman had with city hall under former Mayor Richard M. Daley seems to have faded under Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Chicago taxpayers paid Katten Muchin $139,964 last year. The city paid Katten more than $6.9 million between 1998 and the day Daley left office in 2011. That averages more than $500,000 a year in legal fees for work on construction projects at O'Hare International Airport and negotiating leases with companies overseeing city assets.

A month after Daley left office, he joined Katten Muchin. His former press secretary, Jacquelyn Heard, who also works at Katten Muchin, said in a statement the firm has worked with the city of Chicago under several mayors who sought the firm's legal counsel.