Kinder bill offers rules for agencies to hire counsel

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State agencies that hire outside attorneys would be subject to greater accountability under a bill proposed by the Senate's top officer.

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder said his bill would require agencies to seek competitive bids for legal services that are expected to cost more than $20,000. If the likely legal fees exceed $100,000, a budget appropriation would be required.

Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, has long been a critic of Attorney General Jay Nixon's decision to hire an outside team of attorneys to represent the state in its tobacco litigation. Kinder has suggested the attorneys were hired because they supported Nixon politically.

Those attorneys recently received more than $111 million for their work on the Missouri case, which ended after tobacco companies agreed to a settlement with more than 40 states.

None of the money is to come from the estimated $4.5 billion in settlement funds that Missouri is to receive over 25 years. Some lawyers in the case are pursuing litigation about the disbursement of the $111 million among themselves.

Under Kinder's bill, outside attorneys would have to keep track of their time spent on state matters and expenses and report the information to the Legislature.

Similar measures

Legislatures in Kansas, North Dakota and Texas have passed similar measures since 1999, and a similar bill awaits the governor's signature in Virginia.

"This bill is another attempt to prevent another tobacco attorney outrage," Kinder said after testifying before the Senate Pensions and General Laws Committee.

He called Nixon's hiring of the outside attorneys "a terrible precedent that should never be repeated in our state."

Attorney Rochelle Tedesco, of the Washington, D.C., office of the Kansas City-based firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP, said the bill would make the process of selecting outside attorneys less political.

"Too often these deals between public officials and private contingency fee lawyers are sealed behind closed doors," said Tedesco, the only person to testify for the bill. "Because there is no public oversight, the attorney selection process can be easily abused for personal gain and political patronage."

No one spoke against the bill, which did not receive a committee vote.

Tobacco bill is SB1150 (Kinder).