Federal Employees, Legal Fees, and Insurance
Federal employees caught up in Congressional or inspector general investigations are another sad example; they can be hit with massive fees for something they have no control over.
One often hears lawyers, especially at large firms, say something like “if I were a client, I couldn’t afford to hire me.”
The reason is obvious; billable hour rates are high and quality legal work, especially in a tricky area, takes time. Legal fees for middle-class or even upper-middle-class people can easily outpace a client’s ability to pay.
This is a problem in a lot of areas of law, from divorce to employment to routine consumer litigation. In some cases, fee shifting or contingency fees can help make hiring a lawyer more affordable. Still, even for lawyers who aren’t in big firms, clients are often unable to afford the lawyer they need.
How Transactional Lawyers Can Better Serve (And Maintain) Their Clients
Federal employees caught up in Congressional or inspector general investigations are another sad example; they can be hit with massive fees for something they have no control over.
The political climate in Washington is hard on federal employees. Darryl Issa’s Committee on Government Reform and Oversight in the House has been bringing down a reign of terror on executive branch agencies — and the employees who work at them — for years now.
For example, think about Lois Lerner….
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Lois Lerner has, of course, received significant attention from Congress recently. She is represented by a very good law firm. Her legal needs have been significant. As every reader of Above the Law should know, the bill for doing a significant amount of legal work at a name brand firm is beyond the reach of almost all of us.
Or, alternatively, think of Martha Johnson, the former administrator of the GSA who was forced out of office after an Inspector General and Congressional investigation into excessive spending at a GSA conference. The kinds of professional and reputational risks that have to be managed in a situation like that are huge.
And, in this political climate, it seems like it can be open season on federal employees.
I’ve represented federal employees in government investigations that would never be brought against someone in the private sector. Yet IG agents face pressure to keep investigating their agencies, regardless of whether there’s enough for them to investigate.
Congressional investigations can be worse — in a Congressional investigation, too often the only interesting question is what news can be made, not whether someone did something wrong or worth shaming them publicly.
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For federal employees, these investigations are a risk of public service. And, aside from possible reputational or other concerns (like potential criminal exposure) a person who works for the federal government who didn’t do anything other than her job can be caught up in a process than costs thousands of dollars in legal fees.
I’ve represented a number of federal employees in these investigations and it can be very hard to see the amount of money our clients spend on legal fees that they could have spent on, say, a vacation. Legal bills at a small shop tend to be lower than a big firm’s would be, but, still, paying for a lawyer has to be the least fun way to spend money.
Sadly, this is nothing new. Clinton White House officials racked up significant legal fees too.
Aside from staying out of federal service or reforming how federal employees are swept up in government investigations, what can be done?
Here’s one solution: federal employees can hire insurance for legal fees.
There’s a company called FEDS (Federal Employee Defense Services (get it?)) that offers insurance in case a federal employee gets swept up in an investigation. Pay the premium and when you get a call from an OIG Agent they’ll hook you up with a lawyer who practices in that area (in the interests of full disclosure, my firm has been paid by FEDS in a few cases).
It’s a good thing that federal employees have a way to try to mitigate this risk. But, more fundamentally, isn’t it sad that needing a lawyer happens so often for folks in federal service that there’s insurance for it?
Matt Kaiser is a partner at The Kaiser Law Firm PLLC, a boutique litigation firm in Washington DC, which handles government investigations, white-collar criminal cases, federal criminal appeals, and complex civil litigation. You can reach him by email at mattkaiser@thekaiserlawfirm, and you can follow him on Twitter: @mattkaiser.
