Peter Nickles’ former law firm represented several citizens who were illegally swept up in a mass police crackdown, and attorneys for other purported victims of the sweep are raising the question of whether the city’s attorney general is compromised by a conflict of interest.

Nickles was a giant in pro bono work at Covington & Burling before joining Mayor Adrian Fenty’s cabinet. Since taking over as attorney general, he has fought tooth-and-nail against lawsuits from other ordinary citizens arrested in Pershing Park when the D.C. police cracked down on anti-World Bank protesters in 2002.