Taxpayers subsidize wealthy Philly law firms
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Pennsylvanians spend millions of taxpayers' dollars to pay outside lawyers to work on often-controversial cases, even though the state already has 500 lawyers on staff in its Office of General Counsel.
This is according to an important investigation from abc27 in Harrisburg. I hope it is re-broadcast by its Philadelphia affiliate.
DLA Piper, which has a major presence in Philadelphia, was paid $3,352,529.94 by the state for Gov. Tom Corbett's failed bid to privatize the state lottery. Philadelphia-based firm Blank Rome received $200,000.
Corbett's failed effort — so far — to implement a voter ID law sent $942,790 to Philly-based Drinker Biddle. Meanwhile, Philly-based Cozen O'Connor got $631,128.98 for Corbett's failed Sandusky-related lawsuit against the NCAA.
Former gubernatorial candidate John Hanger, who served as Department of Environmental Protection Secretary in the Rendell Administration, told abc27 it was "an example of pay-to-play in Pennsylvania and it's coming right out of the taxpayer's hide."
"Those law firms have given a big amount of money to the governor in donations," Hanger said. "In the case of Blank Rome, they also gave gifts to [him] and his wife."
This not just about Republicans: Ed Rendell directed $11 million in spending to Philly-based Ballard Spahr, a major campaign contributor that employed him both before and after his time in office.
A spokesperson for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf noted that in January he called for banning no-bid contracts to outside law firms and requiring that the Office of General Counsel explicitly justify "the need and the cost effectiveness" every time an outside lawyer is hired.
