Pam Bondi, Jeanuuuuuuuuuus

[HAB911]

Under radar, Florida spent $240 million on lawyers

$237 million on private lawyers

Attorney General Pam Bondi oversees a legal budget of nearly $309 million a year that helps pay for 450 state lawyers, but all that in-house legal firepower hasn't stopped state leaders from hiring private attorneys, and no one in state government is closely tracking what their hourly rates add up to.

"We do not have that information and are unaware of a way to capture expenditures for the purchase of outside legal services that would not entail an exhaustive search of documents," said Whitney Ray, a spokesman for Bondi.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/ap-exclusive-under-radar-florida-spent-240-million-on-lawyers/2316394



Republicans cannot govern.

[HAB911]

1. Update

* More than $100 million in fees paid to lawyers by state agencies, including an expensive water rights struggle with Georgia. The water wars have been waged for nearly 20 years, but costs soared after Scott pushed to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. This total also includes money billed by lawyers defending the actions of the Legislature and governor.

* Nearly $16 million paid to opposing lawyers after losing battles over voting rights, gay marriage, drug testing and other controversial policies. This includes $12 million to attorneys who represented pediatricians who contended Florida violated federal mandates by failing to deliver critical health services to 2 million children on Medicaid; more than $800,000 to lawyers working for the American Civil Liberties Union; and nearly $513,000 to lawyers who defeated a state law targeting businesses doing business in Cuba.

* Nearly $20 million spent by the Legislature defending budgets that advocates say shortchange public schools and Republican-drawn legislative and congressional districts. The state won the education lawsuit at its first turn, but the courts sided against them on districts and approved changes that upended the state's political landscape.

* About $111 million since 2011 through its risk management division on legal cases over auto accidents, employment disputes and worker's compensation claims against state government.

[lapfog_1]

2. 686,000 average salary per state lawyer!

I've got to get a law degree and pass the bar exam in Florida.

[shenmue]

3. I live in FL - yes, she really is this terrible

[democratisphere]

4. Den of political legal thieves.

[n2doc]

5. I'll bet a fair amount of that came back as political contributions

and hiring of pol's family members....

[Angry Dragon]

6. a state run by a penis head