Earlier this week, Americans for Prosperity Ohio hosted a luncheon for Columbus thought leaders to examine policies of the Attorney General as Ohio moves forward to repair the office from recent damage done.

Moderated by AFP– Ohio State Director Jack Boyle, the event, held on Capital Square, was attended by representatives of legislative offices, business leaders, association representatives and members of the legal community.  Former Attorney General Betty Montgomery provided the keynote address, speaking on the power of the office of Attorney General.

Ms. Montgomery described exactly how much influence the office has through such activities as writing opinions, consumer protection cases and participating in lawsuits on behalf of the state.  She spoke of the danger that can arise in the process of appointing special counsel (also known as outside counsel) for large class action lawsuits, as those types of suits have the ability to lure Attorneys General into inappropriate relationships with unscrupulous law firms who trade these contracts for campaign donations.

This point was reiterated during the panel discussion by former Director of Special Counsel for Attorney General Montgomery, Andy Bowers and former Attorney General of Virginia Jerry Kilgore.  Mr. Bowers gave a history of special counsel policies in Ohio and his own experiences dealing with law firms who seemed only interested in padding their pockets through convincing Ohio to get involved in lawsuits.

Attorney General Kilgore followed up by discussing the improvements Virginia made during his tenure in office.  He talked about how he reformed policies for dealing with special counsel and imposed broad new disclosure requirements on contracting procedures.

Together Bowers and Kilgore gave ideas on how to reform the office here in Ohio.  Specifically mentioned was making the office more transparent and accountable to the public and decreasing any perception of pay to play by making class action lawsuits bid.

Joining the crowd was reporters from the Columbus Dispatch, the Toledo Blade, the Cleveland Dealer, The Vindicator, Gongwer News Service and the Hannah Report as well as a camera and reporter from Channel 6 News in Columbus and a highly read blogger from capital square.