Southfield attorney Mayer Morganroth is no longer representing the City of Detroit in a federal lawsuit brought by the son of slain stripper Tamara Greene.

However, Morganroth said Wednesday he still represents Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his former chief of staff Christine Beatty and Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings in the civil suit.

Morganroth also continues to represent Beatty on seven felony charges relating to the text message scandal. On Monday, Beatty and Kilpatrick were charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and other crimes. Pleas of not guilty were entered for them Tuesday.

Despite criticism raised by legal experts in a Free Press report this month, Morganroth said he sees no potential conflict of interest in representing Beatty's interests in the criminal case as he represents her, the mayor and Bully-Cummings in the civil suit.

"This is getting ridiculous," he said of the criticism. "Pretty soon, there's a conflict if I represent anybody. People are latching onto anything."

Critics have questioned how Morganroth can give Beatty candid advice in the criminal case -- advice that could one day include urging her to testify against the mayor -- when he continues to represent Kilpatrick in the civil matter.

Len Niehoff, who teaches legal ethics at the University of Michigan Law School, said Morganroth "owes a duty of undivided loyalty to his client. With two clients in the same or related cases, that can be very difficult to resolve."

Larry Dubin, an ethics professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, agreed, saying Beatty and the mayor "may have different defenses and she could point the finger at him. She deserves the effective assistance of counsel, and that should be free of any conflicts."

Dubin said the prosecution was correct to alert the court to the possible conflict at Tuesday's arraignment of Beatty and Kilpatrick and may want to raise the issue again.

Maria Miller, spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, said Morganroth's decision not to represent to city in the civil suit "does not cure his conflict of interest in the criminal case."

Morganroth said he agreed to allow assistant city attorney Krystal Crittendon to represent the city's interests in the Greene suit because the matter had become a distraction. "This has become a sideshow and a diversion," he said. "As far as we're concerned, we'd just as soon take care of that diversion."

Greene's son, Jonathan Bond, has sued Kilpatrick, Bully-Cummings and other top officials, claiming they sabotaged the investigation into his mother's April 30, 2003, shooting death, preventing the family from filing a wrongful death suit against her killers.

Greene, also known as Strawberry, has been linked in rumors to a never-proven party at the Manoogian Mansion in the fall of 2002.

City Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel, another critic of Morganroth's continued role in the federal suit, said the council will take up a resolution today calling on the Kilpatrick administration to cut all ties to Morganroth in the Greene case.

"That's just outrageous," Cockrel said. "These people aren't being sued as individuals. They're being sued because of the positions they hold in city government."

Contact BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com.