North Carolina General Statutes 114-9.4. Procurement
(a) A State agency may not enter into a contingency fee contract with a private attorney unless the Attorney General makes a written determination prior to entering into the contract that contingency fee representation is both cost-effective and in the public interest. Any written determination shall include specific findings for each of the following factors:
(1) Whether there exist sufficient and appropriate legal and financial resources within the Attorney General’s office to handle the matter.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 114-9.4
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
(2) The time and labor required; the novelty, complexity, and difficulty of the questions involved; and the skill requisite to perform the attorney services properly.
(3) The geographic area where the attorney services are to be provided.
(4) The amount of experience desired for the particular kind of attorney services to be provided and the nature of the private attorney’s experience with similar issues or cases.
(b) If the Attorney General makes the determination described in subsection (a) of this section, the Attorney General shall request proposals from private attorneys to represent the State agency on a contingency fee basis and draft a written request for proposals from private attorneys, unless the Attorney General determines that requesting proposals is not feasible under the circumstances and sets forth the basis for this determination in writing. A request for proposals under this provision is not subject to Article 3 of Chapter 143 of the N.C. Gen. Stat.. Until the conclusion of the legal proceeding or other matter for which the services of the private attorney were sought, all proposals received shall be maintained by the Attorney General and shall not be deemed a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the N.C. Gen. Stat.. All proposals maintained under this subsection shall be made available to the State Auditor for oversight purposes, upon request.
(c) A private attorney who submits a proposal under this section shall simultaneously pay a fee in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00). All fees collected under this subsection shall be used for the maintenance of the Attorney General’s Web site. (2014-110, s. 1.1.)