State hires outside lawyers in school funding lawsuit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The attorney general's office has brought in outside lawyers to help it defend a lawsuit challenging the state's school funding formula.

One lawyer is already working on the case and handled issues before Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan in a procedural hearing Tuesday. The state has asked the judge to allow others from John Munich's Atlanta-based law firm, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, to also assist the attorney general's office in the lawsuit filed by districts that claim Missouri's method of funding public schools is unfair and inadequate.

The firm has helped defend other states that faced challenges of their school funding systems.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon defended hiring the firm Tuesday, saying it has experience with such cases and was the lowest bidder of several firms.

The state is paying the firm a base rate of $295 an hour per lawyer, up to $90 an hour per paralegal, plus reimbursement for things such as travel and hotels, according to documents Nixon's office provided to The Associated Press.