New London — A settlement appears to be growing further out of reach in the nearly three-year-old lawsuit filed by Police Chief Margaret Ackley against the city and former mayor.

The breach of contract case is slated for a pretrial conference this summer with jury selection to begin in July 2017 in New London Superior Court.

Attorney Leon Rosenblatt, who represents Ackley, said that while the settlement talks between the sides have taken a more serious tone since Michael Passero was elected mayor, a trial seems likely.

The suit had proceeded through the court system by fits and starts, motions, countermotions and several conferences designed to bring lawyers together with the intent of avoiding a trial.

“We’ve been stalled for a long time while we try to work things out. We’re now back on the litigation track. Things have not worked out,” Rosenblatt said. “I think the defendant thinks we do not have a case. My sense is both sides have taken a very principled position.”

Ackley, named chief of police in 2009 following a more than 20-year-career with the department, announced her intention to retire in 2011.

In an effort to keep her on the job until at least 2015, then-Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio signed an agreement that would pay her $110,725 annually, enhance her retirement benefits and pay her more than $60,000 in accrued compensation time.

Additionally, Ackley was to be paid $25,000 in exchange for not pursuing a harassment claim against former City Councilor Michael Buscetto III.

Ackley claims in the suit that Finizio and City Attorney Brian Estep, who also is named in the suit, misled her and had represented to her they were authorized to sign what she considered a legally binding contract.

The City Council rejected the agreement in 2012.

Attorney David Monastersky, who represents the city in the case, said a ruling by Judge Leeland Cole-Chu late last year on a “motion to strike” filed by the city boosted the case by rejecting four of the 13 counts in the suit.

“The New London charter is clear that not even the mayor, let alone the city’s attorneys, have the authority to bond the city to a contractual obligation which has not been approved by the city council,” Cole-Chu wrote in his opinion.

Monastersky said the “the court basically agreed with our position.”

“The city’s position is that Finizio did not have the ultimate power to approve a settlement without the City Council’s approval,” he said. “A municipality just can’t spend money that wasn’t already appropriated.”

Monastersky said the city, short of settling the case, will file a motion for summary judgment prior to jury selection in hopes of a ruling that will end the case in the city’s favor.

Rosenblatt said he believes Ackley has a strong case against the city but did not altogether rule out a settlement.

Attorneys for Finizio and Estep did not return calls seeking comment.

g.smith@theday.com