Ohio AG Dave Yost, South Carolina AG Alan Wilson, and Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch are among the Republicans who have hired firms that back Democrats.
Republican attorneys general in solid red states are awarding contracts for litigation to prominent law firms that donate almost exclusively to Democrats.
Ohio AG Dave Yost, South Carolina AG Alan Wilson, and Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch are among the GOP AGs who have entered into contracts with law firms that have given millions to Democratic candidates and committees on the federal level over the past few years, according to campaign finance records and contracts.
Conservative activist O. H. Skinner, executive director of Alliance for Defending Consumers, believes the GOP AGs are perpetuating an insidious cycle in which red state taxpayer dollars help enrich law firms which then turn around and redirect those funds to Democrats.
“That just begs the question of how unsophisticated or willingly blind officials are if they are rationalizing multi-million dollar payouts to law firms that give 99 percent of their donations to Democrats on the federal level,” Skinner said.
Skinner’s organization has produced reports calling out the “Shady Eight” law firms for making substantial political contributions to Democratic politicians who support regulatory policies that end up creating more litigation for those firms to profit off. Several firms on Skinner’s list have worked with the offices of red state AGs.
“We look at the federal donations when we’re analyzing these law firms because we think that that is a clear indication of the firm’s actual belief system,” Skinner added. “They don’t get hired by the federal government.”
Outsourcing select litigation to outside counsel is routine practice, especially if the law firms can use their legal skills to contribute to conservative victories. Wilson’s office contracted left-wing law firm Motley Rice to work on opioid litigation and, when contacted by NR, defended the relationship by highlighting the settlements the firm has won for the state.
“The opioid crisis is a bipartisan issue, and at the time Motley Rice brought the case to my office they had significant experience in the opioid litigation space,” a spokesperson for Wilson said in a statement.
“Since 2017, we’ve partnered with several firms on a contingency basis, meaning no taxpayer money is used. These firms only get paid from settlements if they win in court. So far, they’ve secured over $200 million for South Carolina, with a projected total of $700 million.”
Motley Rice has given $3.5 million to Democrats since 2017 and cofounder Joe Rice helped fundraise for former President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. The firm’s political donations have gone exclusively to Democrats, a trend that continued when it donated $750,000 to Democratic candidates and their allies in the 2024 cycle.
In some cases, left-wing law firms are contracted by red states to the exclusion of firms that would be better suited to the case at hand, Skinner argues.
“There’s a lot of instances where nobody could reasonably say you’re hiring the best and the brightest, which makes it even more questionable why this is happening,” Skinner asserted.
And in some cases, the lawyers working the case may be ideologically opposed to the state’s mission on that issue.
Skinner cited the example of law firm Grant & Eisenhoffer’s work with Yost on litigation challenging the legality of Target’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and environmental, social, and governance initiatives, which sparked a significant conservative boycott in 2023 when the retail giant created LGBT merchandise geared toward children. The firm sponsors an ESG Institute and often defends ESG-related practices on behalf of its clients.
Yost, an Ohio gubernatorial candidate running in a competitive GOP primary, has agreed to contracts with Berger Montague and Grant & Eisenhoffer, law firms that have contributed $2.25 million and $1.75 million respectively to Democrats since 2017.
The firms have donated almost exclusively to Democrats and affiliated committees on the federal level. Grant & Eisenhoffer has also given $20,000 to Ohio’s state Republican Party in 2022, a fraction of the value of its contract with the state.
Like Wilson, Yost’s office says it awards contracts based on legal competency and quality, with politics having no bearing on which firms the state chooses to work with.
“Firms are evaluated on legal ability, areas of specialization, ability to staff and manage cases, and quality of work,” a spokesperson for Yost’s office told NR.
“A blanket refusal to use a qualified firm based solely on perceived political leanings wouldn’t just be bad government, it would be bad legal strategy. We seek out firms and lawyers with the competency to win cases, not ones who check ideological boxes.”
In Mississippi, Fitch’s office has contracts with left-wing law firms including Baron & Budd and Berger Montague, both of which have donated at least $2 million to Democratic campaigns and committees since 2017. These firms have donated almost exclusively to Democratic candidates and organizations that make up the party’s infrastructure.
A source with direct knowledge of Fitch’s contracting process explained to NR her office’s detailed selection criteria for choosing outside counsel to work with on specific cases, especially those involving Mississippi’s retirement system. The firms are tasked with proving to Fitch’s office that cases they propose should be brought, and that they are the right lawyers to do it.
Fitch’s office has one case with each firm and brought them on behalf of the state’s retirement system, a source with direct knowledge told NR. Those two firms went through an extensive proposal process before her office brought them on, a set of guidelines implemented after the tenure of Fitch’s predecessor, Jim Hood, who was much more relaxed in his selection criteria for outside counsel.
The vetting process requires outside firms to submit relevant documents and sit for interviews to ensure they are dutifully representing the interests of the state regardless of political affiliation. Fitch’s office does “almost all” of its litigation in house and enters contracts with law firms only for specific cases.
From Skinner’s perspective, the red state AGs could easily outsource legal work to conservative attorneys with the legal competency required. He also believes the ties between GOP elected officials and left-wing law firms are generational, with AGs who were elected last decade taking a less aggressive approach toward their political opponents.
“There’s kind of an old guard-new guard dynamic happening here,” Skinner observed. He contrasted the older class of GOP AGs to those elected in the past couple of years, because the newer AGs have taken a different approach to contracts.
Mississippi auditor Shad White (R), the first Millennial elected official in the deep south, agrees with Skinner’s argument about the generational divide between newer Republican officials and those with more experience when it comes to awarding contracts to outside law firms, and their general approach to politics.
“I do think in general in American politics, and it’s true here in Mississippi too, you’re seeing a dividing line between the old guard political establishment, and more establishment-oriented politicians, and the new folks who are coming in, who are willing to ruffle some feathers in order to achieve change,” White said.
White works closely with Fitch in his role and is currently embroiled in litigation against Fitch’s office related to NFL legend Brett Favre’s multi-million-dollar welfare fraud scandal. Favre has denied all the allegations against him and is currently suing White and two others for defamation.
“I just think that speaks to a difference in approach between some of the old guard and some of the newer faces on the scene,” White added, pointing to the election of younger governors in deep red states. “Voters in red states are not happy with the old guard political establishment and I think they see these patterns too.”