Maybe this Explains why Attorney General Drew Edmondson Would Rather be the Governor

Scott Sabatini posted an article on LegalNewsline.com yesterday explaining the move to stop Attorneys General from profiting personally from the lawsuits they bring against private corporations on behalf of the states they represent:

“First came the class-action lawsuit, followed by state attorneys general using the power of their office in connection with private plaintiff lawyers to pursue such lawsuits. Millions of dollars from ensuring settlements poured into state coffers.

“Now, many say it’s time for reform.

“But trial lawyers, bar associations and many of the attorneys general say there is nothing to reform, that those multi-million — or in some cases multi-billion — dollar lawsuits are an act of reform itself.

“When an attorney general sues a drug maker or mortgage company or even a software giant, they say they do so to reform those businesses that have made their billions in unethical or fraudulent ways.

“Paying millions to settle huge lawsuits has a way of getting a major corporation’s attention.

“But the house is clearly divided when it comes to attorneys general.

“Some of the most aggressive attorneys general past and present — prominent names such as Florida’s Bill McCollum, New York’s Eliot Spitzer, California’s Bill Lockyer and West Virginia’s Darrell McGraw — are the ones facing the most criticism for their twitchy litigious trigger-fingers and the class-action lawsuits they file.

“‘The fundamental concern for taxpayers,’ tort reform lawyer Amber Taylor said, ‘if the contracts are not subject to an open, public bidding process, is that the state is potentially getting a poor price for legal services. In cases in which the attorneys are paid on a non-competitive contingent-fee basis, less money ends up in the state treasury.’

The pendulum appears to be swinging. State legislators are increasingly adopting restrictions upon their attorney general hiring outside counsel for large class-action lawsuits…(more)”

One example of a State Attorney General using his own private-attorney friends to sue on behalf of the state is Oklahoma’s settlement with the tobacco industry, which reportedly raised $250,000,000 in private attorney fees – OKPNS has more, here.

One of those same law firms (Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison and Lewis) is also helping Attorney General Edmondson sue the Arkansas Poultry Industry. And, of course, it’s not unusual for these firms to <a href=”http://www.okpns.com/2008/02/25/why-are-these-attorneys-supporting-only-democrat-attorneys-general/”>support the Attorneys General in their campaigns.

If the trend continues to move away from Attorneys General being able to personally profit from winning lawsuits from their states, it could be that other state office will become more attractive, like, say, the office of the Governor. Plus, there are the free trips to Turkey.

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