Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has scrapped a proposal that would let his office hire outside lawyers on a contingency fee basis, a system in which the outside counsel would get a percentage of whatever damages are collected. Caldwell says he’ll return with the idea in 2010. Caldwell says an early version of his bill was inadequate and left the wrong impression of what he was trying to accomplish. He says the new version by Rep. Herbert Dixon, D-Alexandria, contained safeguards against outside lawyers abusing a contingency fee system to chase litigation for the sake of forcing a cash settlement with corporations. After weeks of delays and negative publicity, Caldwell told the House Judiciary Committee that he’d work with lawmakers and opponents in the business community to try to find common ground for the reintroduction of the legislation next year.
AG drops plan for hiring outside attorneys
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