Taking Share Of The Credit
By FRED CONNORSArticle Photos
WHEELING - West Virginia Chief Deputy Attorney General Frances Hughes did not speak during a hearing Wednesday in Wheeling concerning an $11.6 million settlement her office negotiated with Visa and MasterCard - but she had plenty to say when it was over.
After Ohio County Circuit Judge Ronald Wilson approved the settlement and exited the courtroom, Hughes confronted Steve Cohen, executive director of the West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, about his involvement in Wednesday's proceedings. Hughes, waving a finger in Cohen's face, called his organization into question.
"Mr. Cohen, you were dishonest when you stood up and called your organization a citizen's watchdog organization," she said. "You are a business entity, and you will be exposed. Someday, you will get your due."
Cohen had presented a letter to Wilson during the hearing asking that the four law firms involved in the $11.6 million settlement against the credit card companies account for the work each did on the case before they could claim their share of up to $3.9 million in legal fees and expenses.
Cohen asked that Attorney General Darrell McGraw provide the court with information about the amount of work performed on the case by staff attorneys in his office, which could reduce fees paid to the four firms. He also said McGraw should make public all settlement options that were presented by Visa and MasterCard so West Virginia citizens and members of the class-action lawsuit may be informed of how their interests were represented.
Cohen did not respond to Hughes directly but later called the confrontation a good thing.
"It shows the court has reserved judgment on the fees," he said, referring to the fact that Wilson will rule in 30 days on how the attorneys will be paid. "The fact that Chief Deputy Attorney General Hughes had to wave her finger in my face after the hearing shows our argument has credibility."
Wilson did give his approval Wednesday to an $11.6 million antitrust and consumer protection settlement against Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard International Corp. The lawsuit claimed the two credit card companies price-fixed fees, forced merchants to accept debit as well as credit cards for payment, and committed other deceptive practices.
The $11.6 million settlement will fund a sales tax holiday on energy-efficient appliances in West Virginia. McGraw's office also will use $600,000 for the Attorney General's consumer protection fund.
Two West Virginia attorneys who donated to McGraw's 2008 political campaign - Teresa Toriseva of Wexler Toriseva Wallace LLP, Wheeling, and Guy R. Bucci of Bucci Bailey & Javins, Charleston - will share in the legal fees with attorneys George W. Sampson of Seattle and Jonathan W. Cuneo of Washington, D.C.
Toriseva, who donated $844 to McGraw, according to campaign finance reports, told Wilson any reduction in attorney fees would benefit MasterCard and Visa rather than the citizens damaged in the case.
Bucci donated $1,000 to McGraw.
Cohen has repeatedly questioned why McGraw hires outside attorneys to try cases - in particular those who have donated to his political campaigns - rather than use the legal staff in his office to handle litigation matters.
Earlier this year, Hughes said the attorney general's office does "not have the money or manpower" to try cases. She said the state Legislature does not provide a pool of money for a litigation fund and staff lawyers are busy doing the day-to-day work of the attorney general's office.
"It is very costly to litigate a case against multi-national corporations," she said.
Hughes said Sampson and Cuneo were used because of their experience in similar cases brought by several national chain retailers.
As for the contributions made by Toriseva and Bucci, Hughes said, "We do not check on campaign contributions before we assign attorneys. It is not a condition of their work. We have never had an allegation of anybody contributing for any special favors."
She said attorneys assigned to such cases are contracted with no guarantee of money.
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MrMonday
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11-05-08 9:35 PM
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A gentleman made a phone call on this issue to WKKX Radio in Wheeling, a station owned by super tort lawyer Bob Fitzsimmons, a staunch McGraw supporter. He caught*****from both Teresa Toriseva herself and George Kellas, the program host. (Toriseva threateningly implied that he could be SUED FOR SLANDER). Let me warn anyone in advance to NEVER call, write or email George Kellas or WKKX and say anything negative about Bob Fitzsimmons, Darrell McGraw, or any of the lawyers who advertise on WKKX. These folks are powerful, influential & ruthless, believe me!
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EllisWyatt
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08-21-08 6:03 PM
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TruthSeeker The taxpayers pay these people to do a job. If they don't have the time or the inclination to do said job, they should resign. Of course, since Hussein Obama hasn't worked in 2 years, perhaps he could hire an outside lawyer to take his place in the Senate, to be paid for by taxpayers. What do you think?
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WVConservative
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08-21-08 3:24 PM
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I guess the personal injury lawyers are busy filing lawsuits this afternoon and won't come to the defense of Darrell McGraw. It would take a pretty slick tv-advertising personal injury lawyer like Menis Ketchum to be able to defend McGraw on this one anyway.
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TheRealityPolice
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08-21-08 3:11 PM
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This Fran Hughes sounds as corrupt if not more, than McGraw himself. ***The U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) originally opened a probe of McGraw’s spending spree after his trusted deputy, Fran Hughes, casually outlined her boss’ sleight of hand during a public hearing. “We have arranged a methodology that has prevented the federal government from coming back and seizing money,” Hughes said in a momentary fit of hubris before a state Senate committee. Now the federal government has arranged its own methodology. This one won’t benefit Darrell McGraw’s re-election campaign, but it will cost every West Virginia state taxpayer."***
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richardwhee
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08-21-08 1:13 PM
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Talk about padding the bill. Are you sure that Hillary didn't work for one of the firms? Its no wonder that companies leave WV.
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WVConservative
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08-21-08 10:12 AM
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Most thinking citizens know that Attorney General McGraw should not be re-elected. Hopefully more people will get a chance to meet Dan Greear. Dan is about as quality a candidate as we have in this state. Dan is a great family-values guy and a good attorney. Our state would be well served to vote for Dan Greear, and not just against Darrell McGraw
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Consumer4Justice
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08-21-08 10:07 AM
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What does AG McGraw actually do? Fran Hughes is always the one appearing at settlement hearings. Fran Hughes is always the one doing media interviews. Did we have a special election to select Fran as the de facto AG? I think they keep McGraw in an undisclosed office so he can't go on a career-ending rant like the one his brother, Warren, had at Racine.
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TruthSeeker
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08-21-08 10:05 AM
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EllisWyatt, prosecuters and public defenders hire outside private attorneys all the time at a set fee. Get your facts straight.
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TheRealityPolice
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08-21-08 9:51 AM
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You all need to read this blog each day: changewestvirginia dot com. Or google that and find it. I hope he comments on this article.
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tuntavern
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08-21-08 7:58 AM
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I wonder how much time Mr Cuneo and Mr Sampson actually spent in Wheeling working on this case. How does Ms. Toriseva think that reducing attorney fees to be paid to her and her associates further damage the citizens? By paying them more does that not lessen the total amount of damages to be paid to the citizens? Yes Ellis, it would be nice to see information regarding how much time was spent on this matter by Mr. McGraw's office and that of the four attorneys who litigated this settlement. I was also wondering why cases involving the Attorney General's office are being tried in Ohio County.
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Melvin
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08-21-08 7:26 AM
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I didn't know Teresa Toriseva was from Wheeling. I thought she was from Cameron???
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PCGS70
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08-21-08 7:24 AM
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Teresa Toriseva is a babe. Now she's got a few bucks she's even hotter
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WVConservative
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08-21-08 7:08 AM
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It is time for Darrell McGraw to go. McGraw chases jobs away from West Virginia, while his campaign contributors get rich. Delegate Carrie Webster will probably pass a law now making it illegal for anyone to show up in court to speak agains the Attorney General's office.
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EllisWyatt
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08-21-08 6:20 AM
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I have never heard of a prosecutor's office hiring private practice attorneys to represent the interests of taxpayers. What is even more questionable is that these attorneys A: donated to McGraw and B: they are earning $3.9 million in fees for doing a job the attorney general should be doing. Perhaps Visa and MasterCard donated to McGraw as well? Why else wouldn't he try the case himself? What could his office possibly be doing that they don't have time to do their job? I agree with Cohen. I would like to see ACTUAL not padded hours and expenses put into this case. There is no reason why an attorney spending 250 hours should earn nearly $1 million in fees at the expense of taxpayers. If McGraw's people, who probably don't earn $100,000 per year, tried the case, they wouldn't be able to personally pocket the fees. Then they would not be able to donate to his campaign. Where is the investigation?
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