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Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida
Attorney General Bill McCollum News Release
January 12, 2010
Media Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
en EspañolMedia Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Print Version
Attorney General Calls for Transparency, Accountability in Outside Counsel Contingency Fee Contracts
~ Legislation seeks to insulate Attorney General's Office from pay-to-play politics ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General today announced his top legislative priority, the Transparency in Private Attorney Contracting Bill (SB 712/HB 437), designed to protect the Attorney General’s Office from undue influence when contracting with outside law firms on a contingency fee basis. The legislation, sponsored by Senator John Thrasher (R-Jacksonville) and Representative Eric Eisnaugle (R-Orlando), creates transparency and accountability while imposing sensible limitations on contingency fee awards for outside counsel.
“Scandal-fatigued Floridians have heard about far too many shady deals involving public officials,” said Attorney General McCollum. “This legislation takes aim at one of the most egregious forms of public corruption – pay-to-play politics.”
The legislation will protect the public’s interests by requiring common-sense provisions such as posting contracts and payments online, keeping detailed time records for private attorneys’ hours, and maintaining sensible limits on payouts to private attorneys. The Attorney General’s Office has already implemented the bill's provisions as a policy. Passage of the legislation would codify the agency’s policy, setting standards of excellence both now and in the future.
“The Attorney General’s Office leads by example, and this legislation will raise the bar for transparency and accountability,” said Senator Thrasher. “As more sunshine is applied to outside counsel contingency fee contracts, the likelihood of backroom deals diminishes.”
“The people of Florida deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent and that those dollars are being spent wisely,” added Representative Eisnaugle.
Joining the Attorney General and the legislators to announce the proposed legislation was Lisa Rickard, President of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform and David Daniel, Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the Florida Chamber.
“Contingency fee arrangements can create a perverse motivation between a state Attorney General – whose duty is to pursue a remedy that is in the best interests of the state’s residents – and private lawyers – whose sole motivation is to maximize their personal profit,” said Rickard. “With the passage of this AG sunshine bill, Florida will become a national leader by removing the curtains that veil the practices of some state attorneys general in the hiring of outside counsel.”
Specifically, the bill will require the Attorney General, prior to entering a contingency fee contract with a private attorney, to make a written determination that the representation is both cost-effective and in the public’s best interest. The private legal services engaged on a contingency basis must also be competitively procured, whenever possible.
To promote transparency, the private legal counsel would be required to keep contemporaneous time records of work performed and copies of the contracts and the written determinations would available for public inspection on the Attorney General’s website five days after the date of the execution of the contract and for the duration of the contract. Any payment of contingency fees would also be posted on the Attorney General’s website within 15 days and remain posted on the website for at least 180 days.
To further protect the public’s interest and potential recoveries in a significant lawsuit, the bill imposes sensible limitations on the contingency fee percentages to be applied to the damages award, and limits the maximum payout to $50 million in contingency fees, excluding costs.
A copy of a summary of the bills provisions is available online at:http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-7ZMK7L/$file/TIPACone-pager.pdf
Copies of the Senate and House bills are available online at: http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2010/Senate/bills/billtext/pdf/s0712.pdf and http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2010/House/bills/billtext/pdf/h043700.pdf
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