Mayoral candidate Sly James has sued Kansas City – four times.

These lawsuits have cost the city – which James hopes to lead as its top elected official – $548,287 (and 70 cents).

That’s the total amount of settlements made in injury claims against the city in which the Sly James Firm represented the plaintiffs. It’s not a huge amount of money. But in the game of politics, where image is everything, it could be lethal for James.

James tells me it’s not a problem.

“Our job was to help people and find solutions to problems,” he said. “Isn’t that what politicians do? That’s what the art of politics is – working with people to find solutions.”

Perhaps. But if a politician were to charge a hefty fee for “working with people to find solutions,” he’d probably go to jail.

You might not have been aware of this, but lawyers tend to not work out of the goodness of their hearts. They charge super high hourly rates or contingency fees on settlements and judgment awards. That’s how they can afford three cars and $350,000 houses. 

That might also be why there are hundreds of lawyer jokes, not one of which ends with the punch line, “working with people to find solutions!”

James didn’t tell me how much of his clients’ settlements made it into his firm’s bank account. But lawyers usually keep 25 to 40 percent of their clients’ awards. So on the low end, James and his fellow attorneys made at least $137,071 (and 75 cents).

Not quite what he’s raised for his campaign. But not bad.

Not good, though, for the city.

Last year, Kansas City budgeted more than $7.6 million to deal with all the legal actions that are brought against it. That’s a big chunk of money, and it could have gone a long way toward paying for many of the programs that got cut, such as bulky item pick-up and the dozens of city workers who were laid off.

“It’s a serious concern,” says Deb Hermann, chair of the city’s Finance and Audit Committee. “We’re always worried about our liability and looking for ways to decrease it.”

But cities are risky places. People get hurt in them. They also pay taxes. And those taxes add up to a lot of money.

And wherever there’s money and risk, you’re bound to find lawyers. The Sly James Firm specializes in the kinds of cases city officials fear most. Check out the ones James and company likes to brag about. 

So, what were the cases he brought against the city?

One was for a car wreck ($68,000). Another was for “an accident involving a water meter lid” in which a man “suffered serious injuries to his groin” ($160,287.70). And the most recent was for a “slip and fall accident” ($320,000). 

Hermann recalled that this most recent one “was kind of a kid-horsing-around situation.” Several people with knowledge of the case describe it to me in similar terms. They say the plaintiff and another kid were, shall we say, using a high dive inappropriately, and the plaintiff fell and hurt himself.

“I know somebody’s supposed to be watching,” Hermann said. “I’m not saying it can’t be helped. But still.”

She didn’t go on. But I sort of got the point in the tone of her voice.

Like I said, cities are full of risk. Kids play around. Accidents happen.

James, of course, has a different perspective. He says the plaintiff had “$160,000” worth of medical bills. He lost his swimming scholarship for college. “It changed his life,” James says.

And I feel for the kid, I really do. But part of me wants to say, “Well maybe he shouldn’t have been horsing around on a high dive.”

During my brief phone conversation with James, I pressed again on the whole “image is everything” issue.

“I’ve also represented the city,” he replied. “How does that balance everything out?”

I don’t know, honestly. But I’m guessing that when it comes down to a 30-second campaign attack ad, the answer will be, “Not much.”

Especially since the overwhelming majority of James’s campaign contribution came from other lawyers – including, as one of his most generous donors, Kansas City’s king of all trial attorneys: Gary Robb. 

And all this might have you wondering, Is Sly James going to keep his firm if he gets elected?

“I don’t have any idea what we’ll do with the firm,” he told me.

Surprised, I asked a follow-up: “So what if you’re mayor and your law firm brings a case against the city?

“I don’t deal with hypotheticals,” he replied, rather curtly.

Okey dokey.

Nice to know that the current leader in the mayoral money raising race doesn’t have answers for the most obvious ethics questions.