This section requires certain contingency-fee payment amounts to be posted on the Attorney General’s website, requires private attorneys to keep related records, and requires the Attorney General to send an annual report to legislative leaders.
(a)Until the conclusion of the legal proceeding or other matter for which the services of the private attorney have been retained, the executed contingency fee contract and the Attorney General’s written determination pursuant to G.S. 114-9.4 shall not be deemed a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes. All records maintained under this subsection shall be made available to the State Auditor for oversight purposes, upon request. (b)The amount of any payment of contingency fees pursuant to a contingency fee contract subject to this Article shall be posted on the Attorney General’s Web site within 15 days after the payment of those contingency fees to the private attorney and shall remain posted on the Web site for at least 365 days thereafter. (c)Any private attorney under contract to provide services to a State agency on a contingency fee basis shall maintain all records related to the contract in accordance with the Revised North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct. (d)By February 1 of each year following a year in which a State agency entered into a contingency fee contract with a private attorney, the Attorney General shall submit a report to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives describing the use of contingency fee contracts with private attorneys in the preceding calendar year. To the fullest extent possible without waiving the evidentiary privileges of the State in any pending matters, the report shall: (1)Identify each new contingency fee contract entered into during the year and each previously executed contingency fee contract that remains current during any part of the year. (2)Include the name of the private attorney with whom the department has contracted in each instance, including the name of the attorney’s law firm. (3)Describe the nature and status of the legal matter that is the subject of each contract. (4)Provide the name of the parties to each legal matter. (5)Disclose the amount of recovery. (6)Disclose the amount of any contingency fee paid. (7)Include copies of any written determinations made under G.S. 114-9.4. History: History.2014-110, s. 1.1.