Detroit Board of Ethics to Investigate Potential Conflict of Interest Involving City Hall's Top Attorney Conrad Mallett
August 20, 2026, 12:15 PM by Allan Lengel
The Detroit Board of Ethics voted Wednesday to investigate whether attorney Conrad Mallett Jr., who heads the city of Detroit's corporation counsel, violated the city’s ethics ordinance by serving as a paid director of Lear Corp., an auto supplier receiving city tax breaks, Violet Ikonomova of the Detroit Free Press reports.
The investigation was triggered by the Freep, which reported that Mallett received $1.8 million in cash and stock awards from Lear while holding top city government posts. The company opened a large plant near City Airport in 2022 and is receiving an approximately $4 million, 12-year tax abatement approved by the Detroit City Council in October of that year, the Freep reports.
At the Board of Ethics meeting, Executive Director Christal Phillips said Mallett has failed to respond to recent requests from ethics board staff to disclose his position at Lear, the Freep reports.
In a statement issued to the Free Press after the board's meeting, Mallett said, “I will address BOE concerns about its disclosure process when I have an opportunity to speak to it during the course of their investigation. I am confident that I have operated in an ethical and transparent manner and that if there were any oversights, they were unintentional.”
The corporation counsel acts as the city's chief legal officer, representing the mayor, city council, departments, and city employees, and manages lawsuits, drafs ordinances and reviews municipal contracts.
Read more: Detroit Free Press
https://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/34978/detroit_board_of_ethics_to_investigate_potential_conflict_of_interest_involving_city_hall_s_top_attorney_conrad_mallett