Lawmakers, Governor Charlie Chist, and Attorney General Bill McCollum handcuffed current and future Florida attorneys general right before the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico started.  Six days before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and the wellhead a mile beneath it began gushing oil, Chist signed into law a cap on attorney fees.  The law that goes into effect July 1, 2010 caps attorney fees at $50 million in contingency cases on contract work for the Office of the Attorney General.

“You’re not going to get the best lawyers to come in on a Dream Team where you’ve capped the attorney’s fees,” said Fred Levin, the renowned Pensacola trial lawyer.  He said preparation and expert witnesses could easily run to $100 million.  McCollum’s law does provide a provision to pay “reasonable costs and expenses,” but it’s not up front.  You may recognize Levin’s name, not only because it graces the University of Florida’s School of Law, but because Levin was the linchpin in the state’s $13 billion big-tobacco settlement.  For his part of the litigation, his firm got $250 million – that’s only part of the $3 billion tobacco companies paid (separately, and without costing the state a dime in attorney fees).