EAST CHICAGO | City lawyers are trying to reclaim more than $450,000 that they say was improperly paid out to attorneys who represented three former city officials in the federal Sidewalks for Votes trials.

Mayor George Pabey has waged a legal battle since late 2004 to prevent the city from paying lawyers defending administrators who worked in former Mayor Robert Pastrick's administration.

On Monday, Pabey's attorneys accused seven lawyers in three law firms in Chicago and Valparaiso of knowing they should not have accepted payments from the city after the city officials were found guilty in 2004.

A federal jury found former City Councilmen Frank Kollintzas and Joe De La Cruz and Controller Ed Maldonado guilty of misappropriating more than $1 million in federal money. Though Kollintzas was also found guilty of lying to the FBI, the trio was acquitted of dozens of charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud.

Three other principals in the case, referred to as the Sidewalk Six, were City Engineer Pedro Porras, Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr. and City Controller Edwardo Maldonado. They pleaded guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy.

A 2002 City Council ordinance granted the officials a legal defense paid for by the city, but Monday's filing said the law only applies if the officials' conduct was lawful.

Yet attorneys at the three firms accepted the $453,000 in legal fees after the three guilty verdicts were returned, the lawsuit says.

Of that sum, $354,000 went to attorneys representing Kollintzas from two different law firms: Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw; and Cotsirilos, Tighe & Streicker.

Five of the attorneys did not return calls for comment Thursday, and two declined to comment on the record.

One of the attorneys, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said all the work at issue was performed before the verdicts came down.

"We did the work. It's not like we cheated anybody," the lawyer said.

As Pabey's attorneys cast the issue, the money spent had made it more difficult for the mayor to fulfill his campaign pledges.

"Pabey ... promised the citizens of the city that he would end corruption, bring property tax relief, and place the city on a solid economic footing with a much reduced tax rate," the lawsuit says. "In these serious financial times, any amount spent unnecessarily by the city makes it harder to lower its tax rate."