Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann Gives Contract To Supporter

I believe this is what his fellow Democrats term as "Cronyism". He yanks the contract from a firm that supported his opponent and gives it to one of his supporters, a firm with no experience. Since being elected, Mr. Dann has done nothing else but reinterpret the law. Check out "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" by Mark Dann

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann pulled a major state contract from a law firm that supported his opponent and gave it to a Democrat firm with no previous experience in the case, according to a report today from The Wall Street Journal, raising new accusations of political favoritism. The Journal reports, "It is rare that a lead plaintiffs' counsel knowledgeable about a case gets changed this far into litigation. Some attorneys involved in the case have speculated about whether political considerations played a role in the change. ...To replace the Berman firm, Mr. Dann retained William Titelman, a partner at New York's Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz LLP, a firm that has taken the lead in many securities class-action cases. Mr. Titelman has long been active in Democratic politics, including donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic causes."  ("Lead counsel in Fannie Mae suit is switched out," Nathan Koppel, The Wall Street Journal, 10/8/07) At Titelman's suggestion, his son donated $10,000 to Dann last year and $15,000 to the Ohio Democratic Party.  On the contrary, the previous firm assigned to the case had financially supported Dann's opponent. The Journal cites speculation that Dann reassigned the contract at the request of Stanley Chesley, who is also handling the case on behalf of Dann's office.  Chesley is "a longtime backer of Democrats" who donated $100,000 this year to the Ohio Democratic Party. "This is exactly the kind of pay-to-play politics Marc Dann used to condemn," said Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine.  "Here you have a firm that's been fired for no other apparent reason than political motive and replaced with a Democrat supporter whose family has donated thousands of dollars to Marc Dann and the Ohio Democratic Party.  This sends a message loud and clear that if you want to do business with Marc Dann you'd better get out your checkbook." DeWine called on Dann to immediately and fully disclose all political contributions solicited by him or his agents on behalf of the Ohio Democratic Party, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, Democratic county party organizations or any other Democrat-affiliated interest group.  He also called on Dann to disclose contributions received from family members of any individual or firm currently receiving special counsel work from his office.