Pink Slips for the Tort Bar

Two Republican state Attorneys General are ending contracts with plaintiff firms.

One mystery of modern politics is why so many Republican-led states employ trial lawyers who file junk lawsuits and donate to their political opponents. This week comes a glimmer of hope that those habits are changing.

Mr. Kobach tell us he fired Morgan & Morgan because its “performance was not up to what we expected,” including delays and the firm’s use of subcontractors. Ms. Bird notes that her job is to make sure contingency fee agreements are right for the taxpayer. “Sometimes they might be, but other times they might primarily benefit out of state trial lawyers. That was the case here,” she says.

Our readers know that when lawsuits run on contingency fees, trial lawyers are the major winners. Morgan & Morgan is one of the country’s biggest personal injury firms and is best known for its flamboyant cable TV commercials and a billboard campaign that “Size Matters.” Yeah, those guys.

If it seems curious that a personal injury shop got the nod to manage major lawsuits for state governments, a clue is in campaign-finance filings. Trial lawyers get huge fees on jackpot lawsuits, then feed their winnings back to politicians as campaign cash. According to the Alliance for Consumers, 99% of donations from Morgan & Morgan and its lawyers go to Democrats, including some $4 million between 2017 and 2020.

Firm founder John Morgan has spent millions supporting Democratic ballot measures on the minimum wage and marijuana in Florida and has boasted of his camaraderie with Democrats, including President Biden’s brother Frank. “Great guy,” Politico reported Mr. Morgan said of Frank Biden. “I had my jet take him to the inauguration.” Yes, size matters.

Republicans haven’t been immune to plaintiff-bar pitches. Morgan & Morgan has handled cases on tobacco in Iowa and natural-gas price gouging in Kansas, and other law firms established relationships with GOP AGs on opioid lawsuits. Republicans hired firms like Motley Rice and Cohen Milstein, and then found themselves tied into contracts.

Contingency-fee arrangements have no upfront costs and hold promise of future windfalls. But the contracts can trap states that want to terminate, which can require a state to pay a backlog of hourly fees out of pocket. States including Alaska, Indiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and South Carolina still have trial lawyer contracts on their books, whether they want them or not. The bigger problem is that they are enriching firms that often pursue meritless suits against employers in their states.

Ms. Bird and Mr. Kobach are part of a new generation of AGs who are reviewing the old contracts with the public interest in mind. Montana’s Austin Knudsenstarted the independence movement in 2021 when he dismissed Motley Rice and criticized the tort bar’s outsize role in the politics of Montana.

Kudos to these new Attorneys General for ending these trial-bar deals. May this be the beginning of a trend.