Unfair "Combine" Criticism

I saw this little nugget recently that combines a couple of my favorite subjects, Illinois' "Political Combine" and the practice of real estate law. The piece touched on a lawyer close to DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom makin' some money off of the O'Hare expansion.

A former law firm associate of DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom has been paid more than $112,000 representing Chicago in routine real estate transactions related to the proposed expansion of O'Hare International Airport.

William Thomas made $112,623 between April 2005 and April 22 of this year, according to records obtained by the Tribune. Thomas was hired by the city just months after Schillerstrom closed his law office and began working as a partner in a local office of the Indianapolis-based law firm Ice Miller.

But lets be fair Tribsters...his rates ain't exactly out-of-this-world. If I charged at those levels I'd be out of business:

Thomas made $350 for each real estate closing and $150 an hour for other real estate-related legal work, according to city records obtained by the Tribune.