The attorney representing two ex-Little Rock housing authority commissioners in their bid to regain their seats has asked to withdraw from the litigation.
In a motion to withdraw as counsel filed on Friday, North Little Rock-based attorney Sylvester Smith wrote that it had become "unfeasible and unethical" for him "to continue to participate in this litigation."
Plaintiffs H. Lee Lindsey and Leta Anthony sued the city and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. in October after members of the Little Rock Board of Directors voted to remove them from the housing authority's five-seat board.
Smith's request came two days after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Cara Connors in a Jan. 3 court filing said she would deny the plaintiffs' request for preliminary injunctive relief and lift a temporary restraining order barring the city from replacing Lindsey and Anthony on the housing authority's board.
Connors' decision was tied to the fact that she had not received a post-hearing brief from the plaintiffs despite two extensions, she wrote in the letter.
The judge has yet to sign a formal order lifting the temporary restraining order, which was issued on Oct. 17.
In his motion to withdraw, Smith wrote that a directive from the reconstituted housing authority's board that the housing authority be dismissed as a party to the litigation was in conflict with the direction given to him by the previous board.
Additionally, Smith said he has "a clear conflict" because he has a contract to provide legal services to the housing authority and, pursuant to custom, also has provided legal services to its affiliated development nonprofit known as the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation.
The two clients "have adverse interests in this litigation," Smith wrote.
In late November, Connors granted a motion to intervene filed by attorney Rickey Hicks on behalf of the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation and three of its former board members, two of them Lindsey and Anthony.
Smith also expressed concerns about the effectiveness of an expected federal waiver of a requirement that the board include a resident commissioner.
He filed the motion along with a separate motion requesting an extension of time to file the brief that Connors had asked for at the conclusion of the Oct. 31 hearing.
Smith suffered a "nerve injury" in his dominant arm during the intervening time, he wrote.
As with the motion to withdraw, Smith cited his conflict related to the Central Arkansas Housing Corporation in the motion for an extension of time. Obtaining a waiver from his clients or handing the matter to another attorney had proved to be not feasible, Smith wrote.
"This motion is being filed in an attempt to protect the interests of the Plaintiffs, while the Court considers the pending motion to withdraw," Smith stated.
He asked for 15 days for the plaintiffs to file the brief and asked that the judge not act on the temporary restraining order in the meantime.
During a meeting last month, the reconstituted board of the housing authority directed Smith to take no further action in the litigation on behalf of the housing authority or the ex-commissioners in their official capacities, but declined to terminate his engagement entirely.
The board currently consists of Chair Kerry Wright, whom city board members declined to remove last year, as well as two new additions: Vice Chair Karen Buchanan and Bruce James.