25-16-715. Transparency — Contingency fee contracts.

25-16-715. Transparency — Contingency fee contracts. (a) A copy of each executed contingency fee contract and the Attorney General's written determination to enter into a contingency fee contract with a private attorney shall be posted on the state transparency website for public inspection within five (5) business days after the date the contract is executed and shall remain posted on the state transparency website for the duration of the contingency fee contract, including any extensions of or amendments to the contingency fee contract. (b) Each payment of a contingency fee shall be posted on the state transparency website within fifteen (15) days after the payment of the contingency fee to the private attorney and shall remain posted on the state transparency website for at least one (1) year thereafter. (c)(1) A private attorney under contract to provide services to the Attorney General on a contingency-fee basis shall maintain, from the inception of the contract until at least four (4) years after the contract expires or is terminated, detailed current records, including without limitation documentation of all expenses, disbursements, charges, credits, underlying receipts and invoices, and other financial transactions that concern the provision of attorney services under the contingency fee contract. (2) The private attorney shall make the records maintained under this subsection available for inspection and copying by the Attorney General upon request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, § 25-19-101 et seq. (3) A private attorney shall maintain detailed contemporaneous time records for the attorneys and paralegals working on the matter in increments of no greater than one-tenth (1/10) of an hour and shall promptly provide these records to the Attorney General upon request. (d)(1) By February 1 of each year, 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. (2) The Attorney General may take reasonable steps to protect the evidentiary privileges of the state when producing the report required under this subsection. (3) At a minimum, the report required under this subsection shall: (A) Identify all new contingency fee contracts entered into during the year and all previously executed contingency fee contracts that remain current during any part of the year, including the following information: (i) The name of the private attorney with whom the Attorney General has contracted, including the name of the attorney's law firm; (ii) The nature and status of the legal matter; (iii) The names of the parties to the legal matter; (iv) The amount of any recovery; and (v) The amount of any contingency fee paid; and (B) Include copies of any written determinations made under § 25-16-714 during the year.