August 5, 2009
Private lawyers cost state millions
California taxpayers are routinely covering the more generous fees of private lawyers, who are hired by the state largely because the Attorney General's Office doesn't have the staff to handle all of the cases internally.
At times, the state has employed outside counsel at hourly rates that reach $450 even while most of its in-house lawyers earn less than half that, counting benefits. In rare circumstances, private attorneys command even higher fees for litigation requiring a particular expertise. Much of the demand on state lawyer time originates from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where class-action civil rights complaints and other grievances are a staple on court dockets.
Since January 2008, the corrections department has signed about $24 million in contracts with private lawyers hired because the Attorney General's Office says it's too shorthanded to take the jobs. The corrections department is seeking the additional help despite having about 80 lawyers of its own to handle a gamut of cases, with about a dozen of those assigned to prisoner-filed litigation…
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com (San Diego Union-Tribune)
