One of the biggest lies told by critics of City Attorney Mike Aguirre is that his lawsuits are draining City coffers. Today (June 13), the law firm of Vinson & Elkins agreed to pay $4.35 million to settle a malpractice suit filed in 2006. The firm, Enron's former law firm, had been hired in 2004 to assess San Diego's pension problems. As reported in the Reader, Visnon & Elkins told the city, "We will of course make our besst efforts to achieve a result in this inquiry that is satisfactory to the city." It was. The firm concluded that there was no "intentional misconduct" by city officials. Studies by Aguirre, Kroll and law enforcement showed that conclusion to be laughable. The city attorney's office has now collected $10.5 million from settlements with Callan Associates and two accounting firms, along with Vinson & Elkins. "We have recovered many millions of dollars more from our pension litigation than the amount that we have spent on the major pension case that seeks to set aside $900 million of illegal pension benefits that will burden San Diego taxpayers for years to come," says Aguirre.