Posted on 03/07/2003 9:06:50 AM PST by farmfriend
Gallegos wants Bay area firm to help with PL suit
By James Tressler The Times-Standard
EUREKA -- Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos is expected to ask the Board of Supervisors next week to let him hire a powerful Bay area law firm to assist in his lawsuit against Pacific Lumber Co.
The reason he's going before supervisors is to ask them to pony up some money to help pay at least some of the legal bills. His own department's budget can't handle all of them.
The request is on the board's agenda next Tuesday. It'll likely be heard fairly early in the morning.
The Burlingame firm, Cotchett, Pitre, Simon & and McCarthy, represents California Public Employees Retirement System, the Regents of the University of California, and has represented the state Senate and Assembly. The firm has also sued Enron, WorldCom and other companies associated with corporate fraud.
According to a March 5 draft proposal signed by Joseph W. Cotchett and sent to Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen, the firm is asking for a fee of 14.5 percent of any recovery should the district attorney's office prevail against the timber company.
The district attorney launched a suit against PL last month, alleging the timber company didn't hand over important data on landslides before the $480 million Headwaters Forest deal was signed in March 1999. That alleged deception allowed the company access to more timber each year than it would otherwise have been allowed.
It also has caused damage to slopes and streams, filled in the Humboldt Bay shipping channel with sediment, and harmed bridges, roads, homes and the property rights of Humboldt County residents, the suit claims.
In the lawsuit, Gallegos is asking PL pay damages of up to $2,500 per tree for every one cut as a result of its alleged deception surrounding the Headwaters deal. The district attorney's office has estimated the company cut 30,000 trees it shouldn't have been allowed to cut, which appears to mean the damages the district attorney is seeking are in the neighborhood of $75 million. Of that, the Bay area firm would want more than $10 million plus expenses.
According to the firm's draft proposal, the firm would serve as special counsel, while the district attorney's office would be the lead attorney and retain full control over the lawsuit.
County officials Thursday were reviewing Gallegos' request to retain the firm, and asking Gallegos supply figures on how much, if any, money would have to come out of the county's pocket. The firm will have to be paid for its time and expenses and that's likely to add up to a hefty amount if the litigation drags on and depending on how much of the work is turned over to the Burlingame firm.
County Administrative Officer Loretta Nickolaus said while the county regularly retains outside counsel on lawsuits, it's highly unusual for such counsel to be retained for the district attorney's office.
Nickolaus indicated that it's likely the district attorney's office will have to pick up the tab for retaining the firm out of its own roughly $880,000 annual budget. That might be tough to do.
The Board of Supervisors hasn't yet taken any official stance on the lawsuit. Fourth District Supervisor Bonnie Neely, wife of former District Attorney Terry Farmer, who Gallegos beat in last year's election, has criticized the new district attorney for not consulting the board before moving forward with this litigation.
The high-profile lawsuit has sparked a wide range of opinions from the public. Some, including the Environmental Protection Information Center in Garberville, which has a similar lawsuit against PL, have praised Gallegos for challenging the timber company. But others, including county supervisors Roger Rodoni and Neely, have accused Gallegos of political grandstanding and serving as a dupe for environmental special interests.
PL officials have called the suit another step toward trying to put the timber company out of business, and have said the suit is based on allegations that have already failed in the courts before.
Attempts to reach Gallegos for comment Thursday were unsuccessful. But in the wake of controversy, he has stood by his decision to file suit, telling reporters he feels obligated to respond to public concerns about environmental violations.
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