State Auditor McGuiness indicted

[USArmyJoe]

"If they didn't have double standards, they wouldn't have any standards at all!"

 

[adit]

McGuiness’ lawyer asks state to pay him $550 an hour

If she can't afford her Gucci lawyer, they basically offered her the Public Defenders Office.

State Auditor Kathy McGuiness has requested the state foot the bill for her legal representation after being indicted on a slew of felony and misdemeanor corruption charges.

.....

His fees include $550 per hour for work done by partners at his firm, McCarter & English, LLP, $425 per hour for associates and $325 per hour for paralegals.

That, according to Wood, is a good deal.

The motion states that his standard rate is $650 per hour. In a recent white-collar criminal defense matter, he claims to have billed his client $630 per hour — less still than the $1,000 to $1,200 per hour that other defendants in that case paid.

The average hourly fee for firms of his stature in Wilmington is $638 per hour, according to the motion.

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In the DOJ’s response to the motion filed Monday, the department said McGuiness is not entitled to retain private counsel on the taxpayer’s dime.

The DOJ acknowledges that public officers charged for acts arising from their employment are entitled to petition for a taxpayer-funded defense, but that such counsel can only be appointed from the DOJ or the state’s Office of Defense Services, pursuant to 10 Del. Code § 3925.

....

The response concludes that McGuiness has two choices: petition under 10 Del. Code § 3925 to be provided counsel by the Office of Defense Services at the expense of the state or proceed with her own private counsel at her own expense.

“It is sadly consistent with [McGuiness’] charged conduct that she would demand the taxpayers spend extra money when the law clearly commands a less profligate alternative,” the response says.

https://townsquaredelaware.com/mcguiness-lawyer-asks-state-to-pay-him-550-an-hour-1/