Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has implemented procedures and guidelines outlining when and how the office should hire outside counsel to represent the State and its agencies in legal proceedings.
The Attorney General’s outside counsel policy, which can be read by clicking here, sets forth the conditions under which the Office of the Attorney General may appoint outside counsel, the competitive bidding process attorneys or law firms must participate in and how they will be selected, as well as any legal fees outside counsel may be able to collect. The policy also ensures that any attorney selected to work as outside counsel will work under the direct supervision of the Office of the Attorney General.
Transparency is a critical component of the Attorney General’s outside counsel policy. As part of the policy, the Office of the Attorney General regularly posts important information related to the State’s hiring of outside counsel to this web page.
Members of the public may refer to this web page to find the following information:
- Written determinations from the Attorney General regarding the need to appoint outside counsel for a particular legal matter;
- Requests for proposal seeking legal services from private attorneys to represent the State;
- Any payment of legal fees to appointed outside counsel; and;
- Notice of attorneys and/or law firms that have been previously approved to represent the State with regard to a particular area of law or subject matter.