By KELSEY SWANEKAMP
Buffalo Law Journal

The law firm Phillips Lytle LLP announced Thursday afternoon that it would file a lawsuit on behalf of Russ Thompson against the New York State Senate.

The suit demands that the Senate resume its session after nearly a month of conflict over leadership.

"We want to compel the members to do their job and return to session," said Mike Powers, a partner at Phillips Lytle.

If the senators do not resume the session, the complaint seeks an injunction preventing them from receiving their salaries.

"All of the taxpayers in New York state show up to their jobs, and they get paid. If they don't show up, they don't get paid," said Powers.

Powers added that while he did not expect an end to turmoil within the Senate, the suit would require senators to attend the legislative sessions.

"When they come out publicly and say they won't show up, that's not working," said Powers.

Russ Thompson, a Grand Island activist who was also involved in the successful effort to remove two I-190 toll barriers, said that the leadership struggle was preventing the senators from doing their jobs.

"They're fighting for the ‘king of the hill' position," said Thompson.

Powers said that he was confident that the suit would have an immediate impact and compel the senators to resume their session.

The central question behind the complaint, he said, is not whether a taxpayer, like Thompson, has the standing to sue, but whether the senators have been doing their jobs.

"Where this case will be fought will be (on the question of) whether they have done their duties," said Powers. "It's going to be pretty heavy lifting for them to say ‘Yes.' "