Dunleavy continues with $600-an-hour lawyers, looks to hire more lawyers on contract

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has refused again to give up on paying $600 an hour to President Trump’s lawyers to fund an anti-union crusade, and his administration is now looking to pay up to $900,000 on an additional contract for outside legal help on union negotiations.

Dunleavy vetoed an appropriation in the state budget that would have had the effect of forcing the state to use one or more of the 160 civil division state lawyers for their anti-union fight. Attorney General Kevin Clarkson wants to have Consovoy McCarthy take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it will take far more than the $700,000 already allocated by the state.

Dunleavy and Clarkson have never given a good reason for throwing state business at William Consovoy, a former law clerk for Judge Clarence Thomas who is trying to keep President Trump’s tax returns secret.

As of the end of February, the state had paid $171,300 to Consovoy’s law firm since August.

Dunleavy and Clarkson have also failed to give a good reason why state lawyers aren’t handling the crusade. The state has dozens of lawyers who could argue Clarkson’s crusade as well as Consovoy on a case that is years away from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Clarkson’s office hired President Trump’s lawyers in August, citing as authorization a state regulation for “small purchases” that is only for use when legal services are “estimated to cost not more than $50,000.” It was a month-and-a-half later that the news leaked out about Consovoy McCarthy.

The claim that the cost would be under $50,000 appears in retrospect to be an attempt to evade state procurement rules that require competitive bids. The first contract was increased to $100,000 and then a second contract, this one for $600,000, was approved in December.

Meanwhile, the state announced Thursday it wants to spend up to $900,000 over the next three years with a law firm that will provide legal advice on union contracts. The state already has a labor relations office and a department of law staffed with lawyers who are capable of handling this assignment.

At this time of economic strife in Alaska, the Dunleavy administration is sending the wrong message by failing to use state employees for tasks that fall within normal duties.

It may be that Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka, a possible primary challenger against Sen. Lisa Murkowski in 2022, is aiming to take the next step in her political career by hiring Outside experts who can try to negotiate contracts that pay state workers less.

The request for proposals says the law firm to be hired for the job, at a rate of $150,000 to $300,000 per year, will provide “advice and representation” on 11 state labor contracts. If the experience with the Consovoy anti-union crusade is any example, those numbers will increase.

Law firms that respond are asked to identify “any major risks the offeror perceives as potentially affecting the state’s ability to successfully negotiate collective bargaining agreements in the period 2020-2023” and proposed solutions to deal with those risks.

The state asks the potential contractors to highlight “your unique methods or approaches” to negotiate future contracts. The state has one contract, with public safety employees, that expires June 30, while there are three contracts that expire June 30, 2021 and five that expire June 30, 2022. Two contracts that expired in 2017 are still in effect.