NIC gets new legal counsel for lawsuits

COEUR d’ALENE — North Idaho College has acquired new legal representation for two of the lawsuits it’s currently facing.

Attorneys Kelly Drew and Brittney Adams, of the firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, will represent the college in separate lawsuits filed against NIC by President Nick Swayne and Coeur d’Alene resident Mike Gridley.

Drew and Adams have replaced Boise-based attorney Bret Walther, who was assigned to the cases by NIC’s insurance carrier.

Walther filed a motion to withdraw as attorney of record last month, citing “irreconcilable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship.”

Two other attorneys from the same firm as Drew and Adams previously agreed to substitute as counsel in both lawsuits and communicated with the attorneys representing Swayne and Gridley, but later backed out, according to court documents.

Swayne’s lawsuit seeks reinstatement to his position as president after NIC trustees placed him on administrative leave for no disciplinary reason, while Gridley’s suit accuses three trustees and the college attorney of fraud.