Dan's Desk

Standing Up to the Attorney General's Office

Written by Dan Gallatin | Jan 14, 2021 6:16:00 PM

Some of the most abusive, biased lawyering I have encountered has come out of the attorney general's office. I consider it a politically driven office, with many lifelong employees who have succumbed to being complacent bureaucrats. The threat of the attorney general's office lies in the law that is so favorable to it.

One tool the attorney general leverages is the Civil Investigative Demand. A critical element of that tool is that statutorily any CID issued must be "reasonably" related to the alleged wrongdoing and must be fashioned to relate to the investigation. I think the attorney general's office pays only mild regard to this requirement and instead casts huge fishing nets to see what it catches.

Should you get a CID from the attorney general's office, it is critical you retain proper counsel to ensure that what is provided by you in response to the CID is actually responsive and that the CID complies with the law. Do not take it for granted that the state's lawyer has complied with the law.