Bronx state Sen. Jeff Klein couldn’t lose.
The Democrat enjoyed a profitable “of counsel” position with a personal-injury firm that specializes in suing city agencies — while his own firm collected millions from the Comptroller’s Office to evaluate some of those very same lawsuits.
Since 2006, the firm of Klein Calderoni & Santucci has received three contracts worth $2.25 million from the Comptroller’s Office to conduct so-called “50-h” hearings — preliminary reviews of suits that help the city decide if it should settle or fight.
Klein said his partner Fred Santucci Jr. does all the 50-h hearings and he is not involved. But Klein, as a partner, likely benefitted from the city contracts.
Until a few months ago, Klein was also “of counsel” with the law office of William Gallina, a small firm located in the same Bronx building as his Senate district office.
Since 2007, Gallina and his associates filed at least 114 lawsuits against various city agencies, according to court records.
Asked about the apparently cozy arrangement, Gallina said only, “At the direction of the city of New York, we have had clients examined by Fred Santucci at 50-h hearings.”
Gallina’s firm has enjoyed big paydays from suing the city.
“Evelyn Turner, a nurse, won $1,240,000 from the city of New York following a fall on a sidewalk crack in Manhattan,” the firm proclaimed on its Web site.
The Comptroller’s Office said Klein’s company “is one of 11 firms that participate in more than 7,000 50-h hearings each year.’’
Klein told The Post he never discussed Gallina’s cases against the city with Santucci, his law partner in charge of the city contract.
“I worked of counsel for the law firm of Bill Gallina for a year and a half, and I only worked on cases that I brought into the firm,” Klein said. “All those other cases . . . I never saw any file or ever did any work on any of those cases.”
He added he does not take cases against the city but said he received a weekly paycheck from Gallina.
Santucci didn’t return calls for comment.
Klein said he parted ways with Gallina earlier this year because he didn’t have enough time to bring in cases while also working for his own firm and serving as a state senator.