News Item
Journal News: "Taxpayers spend millions on outsourced lawyers"
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino's administration outsourced nearly $2 million in legal work to private law firms last year - and likely more. (Photo: File photo by Seth Harrison/The Journal News)
. . . In all, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties paid private attorneys $15.5 million between 2009 and 2014, outsourcing even basic civil lawsuits despite having assistant county attorneys already on the public payroll. Westchester County, for instance, has a stable of 66 in-house lawyers who made $7.3 million in salaries in 2014.
Instead, much of the legal work went to attorneys and firms with political ties to county leaders, who contribute generously to election campaigns, or who increase their chances to land county contracts by hiring influential retired judges and other former government officials — including some who have had brushes with controversy.
“It is a necessary evil," said Jay Carlisle, a professor at the Pace University School of Law who specializes in civil procedure and legal ethics. "Unfortunately, municipalities don’t have, on occasion, the expertise, or lawyers with the experience, or just plain lawyers, to handle a matter. They’re forced to turn to outside counsel. The real question is, when they do, who do they turn to? Do they turn to someone with political affiliations? To a friend of the county attorney?
“The potential for abuse is ever present," Carlisle said. "Constant scrutiny is necessary.”
Read more: http://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2015/12/23/outsourced-lawyers-westchester/76576688/
