Office of the West Virginia Attorney General

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has proposed new procedures and guidelines outlining when and how the Office of the Attorney General should hire outside counsel to represent the State and its agencies in legal proceedings.

The Attorney General’s draft 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 contingency 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 this policy is implemented, the Office of the Attorney General will be posting important information related to the State’s hiring of outside counsel to this site. Members of the public ultimately will be able to refer to this web page to find the following information:

Written determinations from the Attorney General regarding the need to appoint outside counsel
in a particular legal matter;
Requests for proposal seeking legal services from private attorneys to represent the State;
Any payment of contingency 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.

The Attorney General’s Office is also seeking public comment as part of the process of implementing this outside counsel policy. We are interested in any ideas that will improve the quality of lawyering for our clients, protect consumers, and save taxpayers’ monies.

Written comments on the outside counsel policy can be e-mailed to the Office of the Attorney General at outsidecounsel@wvago.gov or mailed to:

    West Virginia Attorney General’s Office
    Attn: Outside Counsel Policy WVAGO-004
    West Virginia State Capitol
    Building 1, Room 26-E
    Charleston, WV 25305

All comments must be received by May 30, 2013.
Click here to read a copy of Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s outside counsel policy.

Outside Counsel

Written Determinations & Requests for Proposal