Lawyer Bill Drillock
From James Donahue’s Journal
William "Bill" Drillock was probably one of the most colorful lawyers I ever met. He also had a crafty edge to him that kept folks guessing.
I met Drillock in and around the courts and knew who he was, but we didn’t cross paths until the night I covered a Brown City Council meeting. A man attended that meeting to ask about a zoning issue. But the mayor of the town, Keith Muxlow (who later went on to be a state representative) said he was unable to answer the man’s question because the town zoning ordinance was in lawyer Drillock’s office. He explained that the document had been revised and that it had been languishing in Drillock’s office for months.
During the discussion that followed, some of the council members expressed anger that Mr. Drillock had let that issue sit for so long. One of the council members suggested that the council fire Drillock and hire another lawyer to do the town’s legal work. The more they talked the more heated the discussion got. I scribbled down everything in my notebook and filed a pretty good story about the issue for my newspaper.
Two weeks later when I again showed up for the next Brown City Council meeting, Mr. Drillock was present. Drillock and the council members were waiting for me. The council turned on me, as did Drillock, for “making up” my news story. The councilman that suggested that Drillock be fired denied ever saying such a thing. I had to stand up to them and remind them that everything said during a public council meeting is public record. I stood my ground and insisted that the story I wrote was an accurate description of what occurred at the meeting in question.
It was finally Mayor Muxlow who calmed the council down. He said he agreed that some of the council members did make some heated statements and that I was right, that anything said during the meetings were fair game for attending news reporters. He suggested that members of the council choose their words more carefully in the future.
In the end, Mr. Drillock delivered the town’s zoning ordinance and all was well. But I felt tension between us after that.
Drillock later was named to the Sanilac Mental Health Board while Sanilac County was locked in the midst of a labor dispute with Michael Lucas that quickly led to a multi-million dollar lawsuit. This story is more clearly discussed in another part of this biography. That was when the Mental Health Board hired Drillock, one of the board members, to represent it in the litigation case that went before a U.S. Federal Court.
Drillock and I again crossed horns when I challenged the legality of a lawyer taking county money to represent himself as a member of a county board. After writing stories questioning this, our newspaper forced Tony Sykora, the county prosecutor, to take the matter to the Michigan Attorney General. The opinion was that Drillock was not in conflict of interest.
The trail was held in Port Huron’s federal court. Somewhere in the middle of the trial, a juror complained to the judge that he or she observed Drillock coaching a witness. The judge called a mistrial and ordered Drillock off the case. The county hired a high-cost law firm out of Detroit to replace Drillock and tried again. Lucas won the lawsuit and the settlement almost bankrupted the county.
I remember one Mental Health Board meeting when Drillock showed up wearing a toupee. It was a silly-looking thing, but he had it on, trying to cover his middle-aged baldness. Sometime during that meeting he made a snide remark directed at me. I said that if he could grow hair overnight I guess what he said must be right. The room fell silent for a few moments after that. I expected a few giggles, but I guess everybody was afraid of Drillock.
After all of this, one of my editors assigned me to interview Drillock and write an in-depth profile about him. I was not sure he would agree to such an interview but I called Drillock’s office. Strangely, he liked the idea and we made an appointment.
I smelled a possible trap but I showed up for the interview. It was a cordial meeting and I spent several hours on this interview. I managed to get Drillock to say some rather outlandish things. He had an ego so large it almost overpowered the room. My story was carefully written to display Mr. Drillock as the buffoon he was, but the inferences were subtle. The people who knew Drillock and got it saw the joke. Drillock, however, did not see what I had done to him. He said he loved the piece. He called to thank me for the story and we got along fine after that. That was when I realized how socially handicapped that man really was.
From James Donahue’s Journal
William "Bill" Drillock was probably one of the most colorful lawyers I ever met. He also had a crafty edge to him that kept folks guessing.
I met Drillock in and around the courts and knew who he was, but we didn’t cross paths until the night I covered a Brown City Council meeting. A man attended that meeting to ask about a zoning issue. But the mayor of the town, Keith Muxlow (who later went on to be a state representative) said he was unable to answer the man’s question because the town zoning ordinance was in lawyer Drillock’s office. He explained that the document had been revised and that it had been languishing in Drillock’s office for months.
During the discussion that followed, some of the council members expressed anger that Mr. Drillock had let that issue sit for so long. One of the council members suggested that the council fire Drillock and hire another lawyer to do the town’s legal work. The more they talked the more heated the discussion got. I scribbled down everything in my notebook and filed a pretty good story about the issue for my newspaper.
Two weeks later when I again showed up for the next Brown City Council meeting, Mr. Drillock was present. Drillock and the council members were waiting for me. The council turned on me, as did Drillock, for “making up” my news story. The councilman that suggested that Drillock be fired denied ever saying such a thing. I had to stand up to them and remind them that everything said during a public council meeting is public record. I stood my ground and insisted that the story I wrote was an accurate description of what occurred at the meeting in question.
It was finally Mayor Muxlow who calmed the council down. He said he agreed that some of the council members did make some heated statements and that I was right, that anything said during the meetings were fair game for attending news reporters. He suggested that members of the council choose their words more carefully in the future.
In the end, Mr. Drillock delivered the town’s zoning ordinance and all was well. But I felt tension between us after that.
Drillock later was named to the Sanilac Mental Health Board while Sanilac County was locked in the midst of a labor dispute with Michael Lucas that quickly led to a multi-million dollar lawsuit. This story is more clearly discussed in another part of this biography. That was when the Mental Health Board hired Drillock, one of the board members, to represent it in the litigation case that went before a U.S. Federal Court.
Drillock and I again crossed horns when I challenged the legality of a lawyer taking county money to represent himself as a member of a county board. After writing stories questioning this, our newspaper forced Tony Sykora, the county prosecutor, to take the matter to the Michigan Attorney General. The opinion was that Drillock was not in conflict of interest.
The trail was held in Port Huron’s federal court. Somewhere in the middle of the trial, a juror complained to the judge that he or she observed Drillock coaching a witness. The judge called a mistrial and ordered Drillock off the case. The county hired a high-cost law firm out of Detroit to replace Drillock and tried again. Lucas won the lawsuit and the settlement almost bankrupted the county.
I remember one Mental Health Board meeting when Drillock showed up wearing a toupee. It was a silly-looking thing, but he had it on, trying to cover his middle-aged baldness. Sometime during that meeting he made a snide remark directed at me. I said that if he could grow hair overnight I guess what he said must be right. The room fell silent for a few moments after that. I expected a few giggles, but I guess everybody was afraid of Drillock.
After all of this, one of my editors assigned me to interview Drillock and write an in-depth profile about him. I was not sure he would agree to such an interview but I called Drillock’s office. Strangely, he liked the idea and we made an appointment.
I smelled a possible trap but I showed up for the interview. It was a cordial meeting and I spent several hours on this interview. I managed to get Drillock to say some rather outlandish things. He had an ego so large it almost overpowered the room. My story was carefully written to display Mr. Drillock as the buffoon he was, but the inferences were subtle. The people who knew Drillock and got it saw the joke. Drillock, however, did not see what I had done to him. He said he loved the piece. He called to thank me for the story and we got along fine after that. That was when I realized how socially handicapped that man really was.