In two years, Idaho Legislature has paid one private attorney $1.2 million
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Myers has not been hired to defend cases that lost in court. Myers was not the attorney in those instances.
In the past two fiscal years, one private Boise attorney has been raking in fees from the Idaho Legislature.
William Myers, a partner at the firm Holland & Hart LLP, has been paid $1.2 million in that time frame, part of the $1.8 million the Legislature has shelled out to Myers since 2015, according to records obtained by the Idaho Statesman.
In some instances, private attorneys are hired to defend controversial cases. The general practice is for the Idaho Attorney General’s Office to represent the state, at a much lower cost.
The invoices for Myers and his firm show payments through April 13 and exclude Myers’ more recent work, including his counsel during the ethics hearing about former Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger. Myers is also representing the Legislature in its defense of a bill passed this session that makes it more challenging to place citizen-led initiatives on the ballot.
The Idaho Press reported that Myers, who has a rich background that includes lobbying, working for the U.S. Department of Justice and advising on public-land matters, is being paid $470 an hour. Hourly rates were excluded from invoices obtained by the Statesman.
Critics of the arrangement note that taxpayers are having to foot a much larger bill for work that does not need to be farmed out, but Republican legislators — who this year approved transferring an additional $4 million in legal defense funds from the general fund after draining dollars for legal challenges — see no issue.
Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, a Boise Republican, said the Legislature should have the ability to hire outside counsel that might have expertise beyond what the AG’s office can offer, or when the attorney general may have a perceived conflict of interest. He pointed to environmental cases, such as sage grouse protection, that Myers has been involved in.
House Speaker Scott Bedke, in an interview Thursday, said Myers has “a great reputation” and his law firm provides a wide range of legal expertise. While Bedke didn’t specifically address questions about Myers’ previous work as a lobbyist, he maintained that Myers’ “impeccable resume and unmatched experience” are the reasons the Legislature hired him.
“Bill Myers is a very accomplished attorney,” Bedke said. “The legislative branch is an equal and separate branch from the executive branch and the judicial branch. Having a good lawyer serves the legislative branch in the check-and-balance system.”
Myers declined to comment for this story.
Idaho has paid Holland & Hart law firm $3.4 million
Myers’ firm, Holland & Hart LLP, has made about $3.4 million from Idaho in the past six years. Some of that work involved other attorneys, including Mary York, a former employee of the Idaho Transportation Department who took on condemnation cases.
York said in an interview Thursday that she initially carried over the work she had done for ITD when she joined Holland & Hart in 2001. Some cases she helped win for ITD had millions at stake — “far in excess of the amount that we charged in the case,” York said.
ITD has paid the firm a total of $1.6 million the past six fiscal years. Seven other state of Idaho departments have used the firm for outside legal counsel, amounting to a total of just $63,500.
ITD has paid the law firm $1.1 million in the past fiscal year alone. The department declined to provide an hourly rate.
“ITD makes the decision to use outside legal counsel on a case-by-case basis depending on the department’s overall legal needs and staffing levels,” ITD spokesperson Vince Trimboli said in a statement.
Myers is a high-profile attorney in Boise perhaps most known for his work for ranchers. A former U.S. Department of Interior solicitor under President George W. Bush, he became controversial among environmental activists who said he continued to support policies that helped cattle and mining industries. Myers previously registered as a lobbyist in Congress for environmental stakeholders such as the Public Lands Council. According to a 2008 disclosure form, Myers also lobbied for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, for which Bedke previously served on the board as president of the Idaho Cattle Association.
Bush even nominated Myers for a seat on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but that was blocked by Democrats.
In 2014, Myers was hired as a private attorney for Idaho’s federal lands interim committee. He has also represented the Tri-State Wolf Compact Commission — attempts by Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to delist wolves from federal protection — and has provided legal help to try to prevent sage grouse from gaining further protections under the Endangered Species Act.
Myers’ work history also includes stints as deputy general counsel for programs at the U.S. Department of Energy and as an assistant to the attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice.
Myers is a former member of the Statesman’s editorial board and has served on several official public lands committees.
Jonathan Oppenheimer, government relations director and lobbyist for the Idaho Conservation League, said that while the Legislature has the right to hire outside legal counsel, legislators should do a better job of disclosing how the dollars are being used.
“While there is responsibility to respect attorney-client privilege, because the Legislature is representing the people, I think that there’s a level of transparency that should be expected,” Oppenheimer said.
Attorney general ‘committed to … cost-effective representation’
State officials have said the attorney general’s hourly rate for legal representation is about $58 an hour.
The AG’s office has 124 deputy attorneys general with an average hourly rate of about $44 an hour, according to data provided by the state controller’s office. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden makes $134,000 a year, while Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane bills at about $72 an hour.
“Attorney General Wasden is committed to efficient and cost-effective representation of the state’s legal interests while fulfilling the office’s responsibilities to all of its clients,” said Scott Graf, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden’s spokesperson.
Wasden, a Republican, would not comment further.
This story was originally published May 30, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect that Myers has not been hired to defend cases from the constitutional defense fund that lost in court. Myers was not the private attorney in those instances.
