Another layer is peeled away from the Motorola/Hinds lawsuit. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors entered into a retention agreement with attorney Precious Martin on April 22, 2010. The agreement was signed by then-Board President Robert Graham. The agreement specified Mr. Martin would be paid on a contingency fee basis.
The agreement states Mr. Martin will be paid 40% of "any and all damages which this body may recover at trial of the matter." The case settled after a few days at trial for an undisclosed amount. JJ filed a public records request with Hinds County for a copy of the settlement agreement. Hinds County notified Motorola of the request. Motorola then filed a petition in Hinds County Chancery Court for a protective order to keep the agreement confidential. JJ filed a motion to intervene a few weeks ago in order to contest the petition for a protective order. It is unknown how much money Hinds County received from the settlement or how much money was paid to Precious Martin. Mr. Martin is the husband of Board Attorney Crystal Martin. However, Mr. Martin did demand millions of dollars in damages from Motorola a few weeks after he filed suit.
Mr. Martin demanded $5 million in compensatory damages, $10 million in punitive damages, complimentary P-25 status upgrade for the benefit of the county, and 1500 radios "to make compatible with the P-25 upgrade" in a letter to Motorola on January 30, 2009. The complaint filed against Motorola on February 5, 2009 does not specify damages but leaves the determination of said damages to the court's discretion.
Contingency fee contracts between Boards of Supervisors and attorneys are legal. The Attorney General stated in the Nunn opinion (1990):
"You also ask if the board may enter into a contingency fee arrangement with an attorney. Please find attached a copy of an opinion of this office to C.R. McRae, dated June 19, 1990 that said a school district could enter into such an arrangement. We find the reasoning of that opinion applicable to board of supervisors. Section 19-3-69 of the Mississippi Code of 1972 authorizes the board to enter into a contract with an attorney. It does not specify the manner of compensation to the attorney. Section 19-3-40 of the Mississippi Code of 1972 (Home Rule) grants to the board of supervisors great discretion in how to handle the county finances and property. Understanding the considerations set forth in the McRae opinion, we are of the opinion that a county board of supervisors may enter into contingency fee arrangements with an attorney licensed to practice law in Mississippi."
and in the Williamson opinion (2001):
"Therefore, this office is of the opinion Section 19-3-47 and Section 19-3-69, read in pari materia, provide the county board of supervisor authority to employ attorneys licensed to practice law in Mississippi on a contingency fee basis for specific cases."
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11 comments:
Greedy Bastard, isn't he?
So what? 40% is a standard contingency fee.
Its the Ed and Babs Shakedown Show with this week's special guest hosts Precious and Crystal Martin.
Why didn't I name my son Precious?
Is it just my imagination, or has the Hinds Co. BS (sic) gotten noticeably more incompetent and corrupt since Graham got there?
40% seems extremely high for a contingency fee. I would think there are a still lot of trial lawyers still only getting 25% to 33.3%.
I think 40-50 is standard if it goes to trial even though it settles.
Precious Martin is Chhancery Judge Patricia Wise' son in law and he is married to Crystal Martin who is the attorney for the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.
This appears to be a "conflict of office", nepotism and a wide variety of violatons of the Mississippi Bar's Rules Of Professional Conduct as well as the Mississippi Code, as amended.
Sorry that I didn't read your article more closely Mr. Fish. Please disregard the last submitted comment, and as always... thanks for your outstanding coverage of local politics.
And the crickets are still chirping over at the CL. I'm still surprised they even reported on Graham's demand letter from Pickering.
Typical contingency fee contract. There really was nothing to hide. My question is who would you have preferred to get the contract? Were there other firms upset because they didn't get the contract KF? Someone had to get it right? Seems like the man was hired to do a job and did it well. Maybe the other media outlets are not reporting on this because there's nothing to it other than a little nepotism. People tend to do business with people they know. Nothing new about that. Next story.
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