Case Details

Issues

Attorney General’s Ability To Enter Into Employment And Payment Agreements With Outside Counsel

Filing State

MS

Court

Mississippi State District Court

Year

2010

Citation

Pickering v. Langston Law Firm, No. 251-07-1258 (Chancery Ct., Hinds Cty, Miss., Feb. 11, 2010)

Resolution

The court held that because the settlement money had never been in the state’s possession, but was rather a direct payment from the defendant to outside counsel, that the attorney general’s office could use those funds to pay outside counsel. This instead of using Attorney general’s contingent funds.

Case Description

The state auditor’s office sued the state attorney general’s office over the payment of outside counsel from a $107 million settlement. The Auditor’s office believed that the attorney general did not have the right to allocate the money (won by the state) to outside, private counsel.