Recently in Attorney General Category

CJAC President John H. Sullivan will discuss yesterday's state Supreme Court decision giving district attorneys the right to hire contingency fee lawyers to help prosecute civil cases this evening on the "Top Story" program on KOGO radio in San Diego.

Sullivan will be on at 7:03 p.m. with host Chris Reed. If you're in the San Diego area, the station is at 600 on the AM dial. If not, just click on the "Listen Live" button on the station's home page. And if you can't listen live, you can hear the segment later by clicking the "On Demand" button and then "Top Story." It will be on the 7 p.m. podcast for July 27.Or just click here to go to the "Top Story" home page.

CJAC filed an amicus brief with the court opposing the decision, arguing that allowing plaintiffs' attorneys to work on a contingency fee basis for local prosecutors could open the door to the kind of corruption that took place in Mississippi when infamous trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge and sentenced to federal prison. You can read more about CJAC's views in the case here and about the Scruggs case here.

CJAC today released a statement by President John H. Sullivan on the California Supreme Court's decision in Santa Clara v. Superior Court. You can read it here.

Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) has filed paperwork to explore a run for attorney general in 2010, though he told a reporter he hasn't made a final decision.

Harman told PolitickerCA.com that he would like to be an attorney general who is "both business friendly and sensitive to environmental concerns."

The Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) in November 2007 honored Harman with a Civil Justice Leadership Award for his work during the 2006-07 legislative session. During the legislative session, Harman authored legislation to reign in runaway punitive damage awards and fought valiantly to stop a trial lawyer-sponsored end run scheme to artificially inflate damages in certain injury cases.

In the 2007-08 legislative session, Harman authored a CJAC-sponsored bill, SB 1202, which would allow judges to withhold part of the plaintiff's attorney's fees in class action lawsuits until all class members have been contacted and have received their portion of the settlement funds.

Harman represents the 35th Senate District which includes the cities of Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Rossmoor, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine, Cypress, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and portions of Buena Park, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Westminster.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood was slammed on the witness stand for hours by a State Farm attorney over his criminal investigation of the company and relationship with plaintiffs lawyer Richard "Dickie" Scruggs. The outcome was a settlement with the company (terms not disclosed).

State Farm accused Hood of threatening a criminal investigation unless the company settled policyholders' Katrina claims with Scruggs and other attorneys, the (South Mississippi) Sun-Herald reported. State Farm now wants to question Scruggs, who, the company argues, conspired with Hood to deprive the insurer of its legal rights.

Hood and Scruggs stood to earn millions in legal fees from a 2007 global settlement of policyholders' Hurricane Katrina claims.

Hood called Scruggs a "confidential informant" for his office, according to an Associated Press story. Scruggs was charged in November with attempting to bribe a state judge in a legal-fee dispute.

For a detailed take of the courtroom drama, go here.