May 24, 2006

A casual admission, by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, that private lawyers come to him to propose lawsuits that they'd like the state to have them file, not just vice versa:

They are hired on a first-come, first-served basis when they bring what Hood considers to be legitimate cases that they are qualified to pursue. They work on a contingency basis and are only paid if they win or settle.

(Charles Dunagin, "Hood defends hiring attorneys", McComb Enterprise-Journal, May 18).

While we're at it, here's Jane Genova with an anecdote about how it was the private lawyers in the Rhode Island lead paint case who approached the state with the idea of filing suit, and how the judge in the case ruled that it would be prejudicial to make the jury aware of that fact.