Attorney Fees

Consumer advocates called Thursday for state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to fire one of his top aides "because he covertly assisted insurance companies in a lawsuit they brought against the commissioner."

Two City Council members Tuesday sought a review of the city's outside legal bills, saying they wanted to know if too much money has been paid on recent claims, including one involving firefighter Tennie Pierce. Councilmen Bill Rosendahl and Dennis Zine voiced dismay that the city spent $1.3 million to defend itself against a discrimination lawsuit filed by Pierce, who said he was hazed by fellow firefighters and fed spaghetti laced with dog food.

UP until last month, there didn't seem to be a TV camera that attorney Debra Opri wouldn't embrace. The brash, self-professed blue-collar gal from New Jersey had secured a costarring role in the Anna Nicole Smith media circus as the attorney waging war to prove that Larry Birkhead was in fact the father of the now-deceased Playboy bombshell's baby girl.

At the pinnacle of her success, Olympic sprinter Marion Jones set records for female athletes, signed multimillion-dollar endorsement deals and adorned the covers of national magazines. Vogue declared her "The New American Hero" in a cover story featuring Jones in a $2,000 designer dress. But seven summers after her dominance of the Sydney Games, where she won a women's record five medals -- three of them gold -- Jones has disappeared from track and field.

An appeals court all but dared a judge Wednesday to toss out what has been described as the largest criminal tax case in U.S. history if he believed prosecutors had violated the rights of former KPMG employees. The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals told the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, that he had the authority to toss out conspiracy and tax evasion charges if he believed federal prosecutors had deprived the workers of their constitutional rights by pressuring KPMG to stop paying legal fees.

Orange County's former assistant sheriff and his son owe more than $1 million to a criminal-defense attorney who represented the son during two high-profile sexual-assault trials, according to a lawsuit filed by the lawyer. Joseph G. Cavallo said he put his practice on hold for almost three years to defend Gregory Haidl, who along with two other defendants was ultimately convicted and sentenced to prison.

Re "Much more than dog food," Opinion, Dec. 7 Attorney Genie Harrison presents a compelling argument in the Tennie Pierce case against the Los Angeles Fire Department, but I have a couple of questions: Why refer to "attorney's fees" when discussing the settlement package? Why not just say "my fee"? Why do attorneys deserve a high (not just a nominal) percentage of the settlement fee? They are highly paid by the hour. If Harrison is willing to waive all but her hourly expenses, she would have more credibility.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), the House Appropriations Committee chairman whose ties to lobbyists have come under scrutiny, has spent more than $750,000 from his campaign fund for defense lawyers, according to his latest spending report. Federal investigators are examining Lewis' association with lobbyists who have secured millions of dollars in congressional earmarks for their clients. Lobbyists and their clients have contributed heavily to Lewis' political war chests, records show.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has improperly used state bond funds to cover legal and other costs unrelated to the bond measure's purpose, a group of unidentified taxpayers has alleged. In a letter sent Friday, an attorney representing "certain concerned taxpayers" asked the California attorney general and the state Department of Finance to recover $385,000 from the conservancy that the taxpayers contend was misappropriated.

The House passed a bill Tuesday that would bar judges from awarding legal fees to the American Civil Liberties Union and similar groups that sue municipalities for violating the Constitution's ban on government establishment of religion.