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STATE

STATUTORY CITATION

PROVISIONS

Colorado

Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-17-301 to 13-17-304

The law discourages the use of contingent fee relationships between attorneys and the government. If the government engages a contingent fee attorney, the following conditions are to be followed by the private attorney.

(I) Require the private attorney to maintain and provide to the governmental entity on a monthly basis a contemporaneous record of the hours of legal services provided by individual attorneys, the nature of such services, and any court costs incurred during each month and in the aggregate from the effective date of the contingent fee contract;

(II) Require the private attorney, upon the successful resolution of the matter for which the private attorney was retained, to provide to the governmental entity a statement of the hours of legal services provided by attorneys, the nature of such services, the amount of court costs incurred, the total amount of the contingent fee, and the average hourly rate for legal services provided by attorneys; and

(III) Specify an alternative hourly rate, not to exceed one thousand dollars per hour, at which the attorney shall be compensated in the event that the statement provided by the attorney indicates an average hourly rate for legal services provided by attorneys of more than one thousand dollars per hour.

(b) The average hourly rate for legal services provided by attorneys shall be determined by dividing the amount of the contingent fee, less the amount of court costs incurred if said amount is part of the contingent fee, by the number of hours of legal services provided by attorneys. Clerical work, including but not limited to transcription, photocopying, and document filing and organization, shall not be considered legal services provided by attorneys even if an attorney performs such work.

Connecticut

2005 Conn. Pub. Act. 3

Requires proposals or requests for qualification and negotiation procedures for any contract between the Attorney General or state agency and private attorneys in which the contingency fee is reasonably expected to exceed $250,000. Specified that the Attorney General is to develop such procedures and qualifications.

Kansas

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 75-37,135

Prior to entering a contract for legal services where the amount of the fees paid to an attorney or firm of attorneys reasonably may exceed $ 1,000,000, the director of purchases shall submit the proposed request for proposal to the legislative budget committee.

Minnesota

Minn. Stat. § 8.065

Specifies that the attorney general may not enter into a contract for legal services in which the fees and expenses paid by the state, or can reasonably be expected to exceed $1 million unless the attorney general first submits the proposed contract to the Legislative Advisory Commission, and waits at least 20 days to receive a possible recommendation from the commission.

North Dakota

N.D. Cent. Code § 54-12-08.1

The attorney general may not appoint or allow to be employed a special assistant attorney general in a civil case in which the amount in controversy exceeds one hundred fifty thousand dollars and the special assistant attorney general is compensated by a contingent fee arrangement, unless the contingent fee arrangement is approved by the emergency commission. A state governmental entity may not contract for legal services that are compensated by a contingent fee arrangement, unless the entity receives an appointment from the attorney general for a special assistant attorney general for each case in which there is a contingent fee arrangement.

Texas

Tex. Govt. Code § 2254.103

A state governmental entity may enter into a contingent fee contract for legal services only if: (1) the governing body of the state governmental entity approves the contract and the approved contract is signed by the presiding officer of the governing body; or (2) for an entity that is not governed by a multimember governing body, the elected or appointed officer who governs the entity approves and signs the contract.

The attorney general may enter into a contingent fee contract for legal services in the name of the state in relation to a matter that has been referred to the attorney general under law by another state governmental entity only if the other state governmental entity approves and signs the contract.

A state governmental entity, including the state, may enter into a contingent fee contract for legal services that is not described only if the governor approves and signs the contract.

Before approving the contract, the governing body, elected or appointed officer, or governor, as appropriate, must find that: (1) there is a substantial need for the legal services; (2) the legal services cannot be adequately performed by the attorneys and supporting personnel of the state governmental entity or by the attorneys and supporting personnel of another state governmental entity; and (3) the legal services cannot reasonably be obtained from attorneys in private practice under a contract providing only for the payment of hourly fees, without regard to the outcome of the matter, because of the nature of the matter for which the services will be obtained or because the state governmental entity does not have appropriated funds available to pay the estimated amounts required under a contract providing only for the payment of hourly fees.

Before entering into a contingent fee contract for legal services in which the estimated amount that may be recovered exceeds $ 100,000, a state governmental entity must also notify the Legislative Budget Board that the entity proposes to enter into the contract.

Virginia

Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-510.1

No state agency or state agent shall enter into a contingency fee contract for legal services in which contingency fees and expenses are reasonably anticipated to exceed $ 100,000 until an open and competitive negotiation process has been undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.), applied mutatis mutandis. The contract shall be awarded to the attorney or firm that submits the most competitive proposal to provide such services considering the cost of the services, the qualifications of the attorney or firm to provide the services, the experience of the attorney or firm with similar legal matters, legal expertise generally, and such other relevant factors as may be identified by the Attorney General.