Hogan & Hartson

Governor Bill Ritter And The Hogan Connection

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One of the reasons why law firms try to treat their alumni well is that you never know when they will come back and throw a little business your way. The current governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter, put in a year at Hogan & Hartson — after 12 years as a district attorney, before running for Governor.
When Governor Ritter had some legal work to do concerning the dispersal of federal stimulus funds, he threw it Hogan & Hartson’s way.
This happens all of the time, right? Not so fast my friends, Am Law Daily reports that there is more going on in Denver:

Now halfway through his first term, Ritter is under fire for allegedly turning down a $75-per-hour offer from his state’s attorney general’s office to handle legal matters related to the disbursement of federal stimulus package funds. Instead, he allegedly granted a no-bid contract to his former firm at six times the cost.
The Denver Post reports that lawyers for Ritter told the state AG’s office in February they would hire outside counsel to help Colorado with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Fair use of executive prerogative, or should he have sought out the lowest legal fees available for the state?
More details after the jump.


It’s not just Bill Ritter who has thrown some legal work to his former firm:

Ritter isn’t the only governor to come under fire for awarding contracts to a former employer. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a former partner at Philadelphia’s Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, has been criticized for granting similar no-bid contracts to his former firm in recent years.
Last year the former U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Christopher Christie, came under fire for a multimillion-dollar contract he awarded to the firm of John Ashcroft, his former boss at the Justice Department. Christie recently testified before a House panel that the contracts he gave political allies were proper.

Is this really a big deal? Can’t these Governors use the University of Illinois “everybody is doing it” defense? After all, Governor Ritter did get reduced rates for the legal work:
Does this pass the smell test for you? Take the reader poll below.

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Colorado Governor in Hot Water Over Hogan & Hartson Hire [Am Law Daily]

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