Outgoing Dem AG Richard Cordray Sending $4.1 Million In State Contracts To Law Firms: Cincinnati Gets Small Slice Of Special Counsel Deals

Sugar Plums For Upstate Law Firms

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- For Cincinnati lawyers, it's not the dance of the sugar plum fairy.  Most of the unbid special counsel work is headed to law firms in Cleveland and Columbus.  Only two Cincinnati firms -- with $315,000 total -- are on the list of retroactive and renewed contracts.  The deals have been submitted to the State Controlling Board for approval at its last meeting of the year.  It is also the last session with Democrats in control of state government.  Richard Cordray was beaten by Republican Mike DeWine, and the special counsel contracts  -- if approved -- will be in force during much of 2011.  In the past, special counsel contracts have been a political plum for the attorney general, and often controversial.  Not this time, at least not yet.  Traditional campaign fodder includes accusations of lawyers making political contributions in exchange for work -- something that did not occur during Cordray's brief tenure.  He was elected to replace Marc Dann, who resigned in a sex scandal.  Cordray finished out Dann's unexpired term.

In Cincinnati, Ulmer & Berne is getting a $175,000 increase in its contract to represent the University of Cincinnati in construction litigation matters.  The current contract is for $75,000,  Ulmer & Berne is a downtown firm with 336 employees in Ohio.  State records show 8% are minorities and 50% are women.  Wood Herron & Evans, another downtown law firm, is set to receive a $200,000 increase to handle patent matters for Ohio State University.  Its current contract is worth $60,000.  State records show Wood Herron has 112 Ohio employees -- 6% are minorities, 50% women.

Ohio Education Association Endorses Cordray For Attorney General: Union Didn't Wait To Learn Who GOP Picks

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Democrat Richard Cordray will have the backing of the 130,000-member OEA, the state's biggest teacher's union. The Ohio Education Association said its endorsement panel "carefully screens candidates based on their voting records as well as their support of public education and the OEA's priority issues." But the union's description of a careful screening process seems to have a bit of a flaw. As yet, there is no Republican candidate for Ohio attorney general to screen for the Nov. 4 statewide ballot. Cordray -- the sole major party candidate in the race -- was the unanimous pick. Some critics see a rush to judgment. Ohio's Republicans still haven't slated a candidate to run for the job that Marc Dann, a Democrat elected in November 2006, quit after confessing an extra-marital affair with a female member of his staff. The teacher's union announced Friday that it is satisfied Cordray, currently Ohio's state treasurer, "truly supports" public schools. Thus, it saw no need to wait to learn the views of the GOP candidate.

The press release announcing the Cordray endorsement is available here. OEA President Patricia Frost-Brooks said:

"Richard Cordray has demonstrated that he truly supports public education through his initiatives working with teachers and public school students. He is a person of great integrity and is committed to fairness and justice. We believe he will support our effort to create great public schools in Ohio."

Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray: A Politican Who Can't Hog The Spotlight

[UPDATE: 2/1/08 -- Event postponed by the winter storm that rolled in overnight. No back up date yet.]
GREENVILLE, Ohio (TDB) -- State Treasurer Richard Cordray is scheduled to play second-fiddle to an economic forecasting pig. He'll be the top state official on hand when Dave, a plump porcine, predicts if 2008 is going to be a fat year. The Feb. 1 event is sponsored by the Darke County Chamber of Commerce and takes place 24 hours in advance of Groundhog Day. What do we call it? One Swine Day?

In Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil has been crawling out of his burrow for generations on Feb. 2 and predicting whether winter will last for six more weeks. Phil does it by checking his shadow. Cordray is going to preside over Dave the Pig's debut -- the swine gets to going to choose between a trough or sugar or sawdust. If his snout is drawn to the sawdust, then maybe the Fed's interest rate cutting may be a lost cause for Wall Street, let alone the IRS stimulus checks that Bush and Congress are mailing. Cordray studied economics at Oxford and admits he's a bit apprehensive:

"I'm familiar with bear and bull markets, but hogs are a new one on me. I hope my take will be sufficiently palatable."