CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Lungren Acts to Cut Costs of Legal Aid

Disclosing that state agencies are using private lawyers that could cost taxpayers up to $30 million in current contracts, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren has recommended instead that Department of Justice attorneys be used except in cases of possible conflict of interest. Private lawyers retained by the state are presently paid an average of $165 and as high as $350 an hour, according to Lungren. The attorney general said of 136 state agencies responding to a survey, 83 have contracts with private lawyers. If all those contracts run their course, it will cost the state $30 million, according to Dave Puglia, Lungren’s press secretary.