Senate Bill No. 600
(By Senators Oliverio, Burnette, Sprouse and McKenzie)
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[Introduced February 15, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend chapter five-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article three-b, relating to
the private attorney retention act; requiring director of
purchasing division to submit proposal for hiring of attorneys
to joint committee on government and finance in certain
situations; authorizing the committee to conduct public
hearing on the proposal; requiring the committee to issue a
report to the director; requiring the protection of
evidentiary privileges; requiring director to submit final
request for proposal under certain circumstances; requiring
submission of legal services contract to joint committee on
government and finance after awarding of contract for legal
services; authorizing committee to hold public hearing on
contract; requiring committee to issue report on contract; providing the provisions of the article do not apply in
certain actions; requiring director of purchasing division to
prepare and submit reports; providing for the contents of
certain reports by director; providing courts, before
approving attorneys' fees, conduct an evidentiary hearing;
authorizing persons to provide information to the court; and
setting forth criteria for the court to consider in
determining whether to award attorneys' fees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter five-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto
a new article, designated article three-b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3B. PRIVATE ATTORNEY RETENTION ACT.
§5A-3B-1. Procedures for hiring attorneys by state agencies.
(a) 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 two hundred thousand dollars, the director of
the purchasing division shall submit the proposed request for
proposal to the joint committee on government and finance. Within
thirty days after submission of such request for proposal, the
committee may hold a public hearing on the proposed request for
proposal and shall issue a report to the director of the purchasing
division. The report shall include any proposed changes to the
proposed request for proposal suggested by the committee. The committee is not authorized to waive the evidentiary privileges of
the state, or any of the persons or entities that state attorneys
are representing or acting in concert within any litigation or
anticipated litigation. The committee, the director of the
purchasing division and their employees shall take all reasonable
steps to protect these privileges. The director of the purchasing
division shall review the report and adopt a final request for
proposal as considered appropriate, in view of the report, and
shall file the final request for proposal with the joint committee
on government and finance. If the proposed request for proposal
does not contain the changes proposed by the committee, the
director of purchases shall submit with the final request for
proposal a letter stating the reasons why such proposed changes
were not adopted. The director of the purchasing division shall
not release the final request for proposal until at least ten days
after the date of submission of the final request for proposal to
the joint committee on government and finance. If the committee
makes no suggested changes to the proposed request for proposal or
fails to report any suggested changes within sixty days of the
submission of the proposed request for proposal to the committee,
the director of the purchasing division may release the request for
proposal.
(b) After awarding a contract for legal services where the
amount of the fees paid to an attorney or firm of attorneys reasonably may exceed two hundred thousand dollars the director of
the purchasing division shall submit the contract to the joint
committee on government and finance. Within thirty days after
submission of the contract, the committee may hold a public hearing
on the contract and shall issue a report to the director of the
purchasing division. The report shall include any concerns of the
committee.
(c) The provisions of this section shall not apply in any
action in which the state of West Virginia or any state agency,
officer or employee is a defendant and a contract for legal
services is to be entered. The director of the purchasing division
shall prepare a report each calendar quarter while such legal
proceeding is in progress. The report shall include the case
citation and the date upon which the action was filed. The
director of the purchasing division shall submit the report to the
joint committee on government and finance, the president of the
Senate and the speaker of the House of Delegates.
(d) The director of the purchasing division shall prepare a
detailed report at least once in each calendar quarter of each
legal proceeding which has been completed and for which a
contingency fee arrangement was entered. Such report shall disclose
the hours worked on the case, the expenses incurred, the aggregate
fee amount and a breakdown as to the hourly rate, based on hours
worked divided into fee recovered, less expenses. The director shall submit the report to the joint committee on government and
finance, the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House
of Delegates.
(e) Reasonable attorney fees to be paid by the state in an
action where the attorney was hired by the state with a contingency
fee agreement shall be approved by the appropriate circuit court
judge after an evidentiary hearing and prior to final disposition
of the case by the court. Any individual may provide information
to the court and be heard before the court with regard to the
reasonableness of attorney fees paid by the state or defendant
under the contingency fee agreement. Compensation for reasonable
attorney fees for services performed in an appeal of a judgment in
any such action to the supreme court of appeals of this state shall
be approved after an evidentiary hearing by the chief judge or by
the presiding judge of the panel hearing the case. Compensation
for reasonable attorney fees for services performed in an appeal of
a judgment in any such action to the supreme court of appeals shall
be approved after an evidentiary hearing by the justices of the
court in which the appeal is pending. In determining the
reasonableness of such compensation, the judges and justices shall
consider the following:
(1) The time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of
the questions involved and the skill requisite to perform the legal
service properly;
(2) The likelihood, if apparent to the client, that the
acceptance of the particular employment will preclude other
employment by the attorney;
(3) The fee customarily charged in the locality for similar
legal services;
(4) The amount involved and the results obtained;
(5) The time limitations imposed by the client or by the
circumstances;
(6) The nature and length of the professional relationship
with the client;
(7) The experience, reputation and ability of the attorney or
attorneys performing the services; and
(8) Whether the fee is fixed or contingent.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to enact the
"Private
Attorney Retention Act." Among the proposed provisions of the bill
are the following: (1) Requiring the director of purchasing
division to submit a proposal for hiring of attorneys to the joint
committee on government and finance in certain situations; (2)
authorizing the committee to conduct public hearings on proposals;
(3) requiring the committee to issue a report to the director; (4)
requiring the protection of evidentiary privileges of govermental
clients; (5) requiring the director to submit a final request for
a proposal under certain circumstances; (6) requiring submission of
a legal services contract to the joint committee on government and
finance after awarding of contract for legal services; (7)
authorizing the committee to hold public hearings on contracts; (8)
requiring the committee to issue reports on contracts; (9)providing
the provisions of the article do not apply in certain actions; (10)
requiring the director of the purchasing division to prepare and
submit reports; (11) providing for the contents of certain reports
by the director; (12) providing courts, before approving attorneys' fees, conduct an evidentiary hearing; (13) authorizing persons to
provide information to the court; and (14) setting forth criteria
for the court to consider in determining whether to award
attorneys' fees.
[TYPE INFORMATION]This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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