County Attorney Mike Stafford: Government Knows Best!

» Chron: Port's use of outside lawyers questioned (Bill Murphy)

Interesting reading how the all-Republican county leaders are of the firm belief that government can do a job better than private enterprises. County Attorney Mike Stafford, in particular. Whither conservatism?

Murphy tries to put some context into the analysis, offering some examples of the savings generated by the expense. What's curious, though, is the comparison of various levels of local government spending on legal services ... without mentioning that some good portion of the City gets legal services pro bono. If the Port were to accomplish the same, does Stafford's pro-big-government argument still hold?

"They're spending way too much money on legal fees and expert witnesses," County Commissioner Steve Radack said. "I don't think there are too many people who would argue that point."

...

The port, Kornegay said, won several cases with the help of outside counsel, including a massive lawsuit by a group of energy companies trying to force the port to pay as much $100 million to move pipelines under the Houston Ship Channel. The port's outside legal fees on that case were $738,000.

Debra Baker, a lawyer at Connelly Baker Wotring Jackson, said her firm was paid more than $7 million to represent the authority in complicated litigation over contamination of port property by a nearby pesticide plant.

The results, she said, speak for themselves. The losing side was ordered to pay $55 million, including the port's legal expenses of nearly $19 million.

...

The agency also succeeded in turning back two challenges to its permits for the Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal, paying outside lawyers and consultants $2.5 million.

But not all of the port's legal matters are complicated and arcane. The majority of the work centers on eminent domain, property damage and commercial disputes, James said.

"We have lawyers in our office who've been doing that sort of thing for 20 to 25 years. We have people who are highly skilled in eminent domain," Harris County Attorney Mike Stafford said. "There's room to save taxpayers' money. A private firm is in the for-profit business. We work at cost."