Dennis the Menace

In any case, Wilenchik went on to find his niche, developing a practice that focuses mainly on construction defect defense law, representing home builders. Jim Eckley, a Phoenix attorney who represents plaintiffs in such cases, goes up against Wilenchik frequently — including several times in the last year. He speaks highly of his opponent. The two are not friends; Eckley only knows Wilenchik professionally.

Eckley acknowledges that with Wilenchik, there are generally "a lot of nasty barbs tossed back and forth . . . but also I will say, some of those barbs get some mileage in a civil trial court. He's that kind of fighter on the defense side and it's tough to be on the defense side."

Outside a civil trial court, Wilenchik's barbs can deliver an unexpected sting. For years — even predating his representation of Arpaio — Wilenchik has lobbed bombs at reporters, hoping to dissuade them from writing about his clients.

And as Sheriff Joe's attorney, Wilenchik has further honed his media relations skills. One local journalist, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of recrimination, remembers a call he received on a Saturday afternoon last year. The journalist had been researching what he describes as a fairly benign piece about corrections officers, and since he'd long had a good relationship with the Sheriff's Office, he called Captain Paul Chagolla, Arpaio's spokesman, to ask about pay rates.

He was also interested in how different law enforcement offices worked together, so he asked an innocent question about the Sheriff's Office's relationship with the Buckeye Police Department. Whoops. The reporter wasn't thinking at the time about Arpaio's acrimonious relationship with Dan Saban, Buckeye's chief. But Arpaio's people clearly were, because the reporter suddenly received several messages from Chagolla and other Arpaio staffers, culminating with a call he'll never forget.

"I'm Dennis Wilenchik. I'm the sheriff's lawyer!" the journalist recalls hearing. He told the journalist, "Dan Saban is a liar!" and then insisted that he write about Saban. (The reporter refused.)

Joe Arpaio and Dennis Wilenchik are clearly a perfect match. After a year together, Arpaio's chief deputy, Dave Hendershott, wrote to the county attorney, requesting that Wilenchik serve as Arpaio's exclusive lawyer. That must have made Andrew Thomas happy, since he's the one who brought Wilenchik into the fray.

How Wilenchik and Thomas originally met is not clear. But Thomas was working at Wilenchik's law firm at the time he was elected (given that neither Wilenchik nor Thomas will talk on the subject, it's also unclear just what Thomas actually did while working at Wilenchik's office, other than sit by while Wilenchik made fund-raising calls on his behalf), and almost immediately turned around and handed Wilenchik what has now amounted to more than $2 million in business.

Arpaio claims Wilenchik has actually saved the county money.

In a press release dated October 30 (note this was less than two weeks after Thomas "fired" Wilenchik) Arpaio praised his attorney:

"Dennis Wilenchik exemplifies professionalism, tenaciousness and aggressiveness — characteristics needed to win in court," Arpaio said. "Taxpayers of this county owe Wilenchik a debt of gratitude. He has saved them millions of dollars."

It's safe to say the jury is still out on that one.

It would be impossible to account for the amount of money Wilenchik has cost the county in legal obfuscations alone, but one case illustrates the point.

Hart vs. Hill has been wending its way through U.S. District Court for a remarkable 30 years. It's a case about poor jail conditions that has been handed down through several Maricopa County Sheriff's administrations, landing with Joe Arpaio. In 2005, Wilenchik was appointed counsel, and immediately began stonewalling requests from the other side.

In this case, the move has worked beautifully, because the 82-year-old judge is moving slowly, to say the least.

In November 2006, the plaintiffs' attorneys (including Larry Hammond and Debbie Hill from Osborn Maledon) filed a motion asking for sanctions against Wilenchik for refusing to provide materials they'd requested, including:

• Documents related to the accreditation of the jail by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care,

• Independent evaluations of the jail's health care services,

• Inspection reports by any government agency on medical/mental health and environmental health and safety, and

• Minutes of meetings of correctional health staff or contract healthcare providers.

The specific issue is that the plaintiff's attorneys want recent records; they say in court pleadings that none have been provided beyond September 2005. Wilenchik doesn't argue that.

Hammond says the decision to seek sanctions was not made easily.

"It's something we almost never do," he says. "The idea of seeking sanctions — while there are some lawyers who seek sanctions as a matter of course — it is something we try to avoid, really, at all costs."

Hammond didn't see that he had a choice.