Private Attorney RetentionSunshineAct

Section I. {Title] This act may be known as the Private Attorney Retention SunshineAct. Section 2. (Definitions) For the purposesof this Act, a contract in excessof $1,OOO,OOO in which the fee paid to an is one attorney or group of attorneys, either in the form of a flat, hourly, or contingent fee, and their expenses, exceedsor can be reasonably expectedto exceed5 1,000,OOO. Section 3. {Procurement} Any stateagency or state agent that wishes to retain a lawyer or law firm to perform legal serviceson behalfofthis stateshall not do so until an open and competitive bidding processhas beenundertaken. Section 4. {Oversight) No stateagency or state agent shall enter into a contract for legal servicesexceedingone million dollars ($1,OOO,OOO) without the opportunity for at least one hearing in the legislature on the terms of the legal contract in accordancewith Section 5. Section 5. {Implementation) A. Per the requirement of {Section 4), any state agencyor stateagent entering into a contract for legal servicesin excessof $1,000,000 shall rile a copy of said proposedcontract with the clerk of the House of Representatives, who, with the approval of the Presidentof the Senateand the Speakerof the House of Representatives,shall refer such contract to the appropriate committee. B. Within 30 days after such referral, said committee may hold a public hearing on said proposed contractand shall issue a report to the referring state agencyor agent. Said report shall include any proposedchangesto the proposedcontract voted upon by the committee. The stateagency or stateagentshall review said report and adopt a final contract as deemedappropriate in view of said report and shah file with the clerk of the House of Representatives final contract. its C. lfthe proposedcontract doesnot contain the changesproposedby said committee, the referring stateagency or agent ghall send a letter to said clerk accompanying the final contract statingthe reasonswhy suchproposed changeswere not adopted.Saidclerk shall refer such letter and tinal regulations to the appropriate committee. Not earlier than 45 days after the filing of such letter and final contract with said committee, the stateagencyor agent shall enter into the final contract.

910 17 Street NW. n Fifth Floor n Washington, D.C. 20006 n Tel, (202) 4663800 n FAX(202) 466.3801 m %vvw.ALECnrg

L c

D. If no proposedchangesto the proposedcontract are made to the state agencyor agentwithin 60 days of the initial filing of the proposedregulation or any amendmentor repeal of such regulation with the clerk of the House of Representatives, state agencyor agent may enter into the the contract. E. Nothing in this Act shall be construedto expand the authority of any stateagency or agentto enter into contractswhere no such authority previously existed. F. In the event that the legislature is not in sessionand the attorney generalwishes to executea contract for legal servicesthe Governor with the unanimous consentof,the Speakerof the House, and the Presidentof the Senate,may establish a five-member interim committee consisting of five statelegislators, one eachto be appointed by tbe Governor, the Speakerof the House, the Presidentof the Senate,and the minority leader in eachhouse of the legislature to executethe oversight duties as set forth in paragraphsB-E of this section. i. identical deadlinesand reporting responsibilities shall apply to the Attorney General and this interim committee as would apply to a standing committee of the legislature executing its duties set forth in paragraphsB-E. Section 6. {Contingent Fees} A. At the conclusion of any legal proceeding for which a state agencyor agent retained outside counselon a contingent fee basis, the state shall receive from counsel a statementof the hours worked on the case,expensesincurred, the aggregatefee amount, and a breakdown asto the hourly rate, basedon hours worked divided into fee recovered,less expenses. B. In no caseshall the stateincur fees and expensesin excessof Sl,OOO hour for legal per services.In caseswhere a disclosure submitted in accordancewith paragraph(a) of this section indicates an hourly rate in excessof $1,000 per hour, the fee amount shall be reducedto an amount equivalent to $1,000 per hour. (Severability Clause) (Repealer Clause) {Effective Date)
Approved 01/11/99 by ALEC Board