Law Firms

Colo. Governor Gave No-Bid Contract to Hogan & Hartson, His Ex-Firm

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Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter hired his former law firm, Hogan & Hartson, to analyze the federal stimulus bill and make sure the state gets its share of federal funds.

Ritter hired Hogan & Hartson under a no-bid contract and has so far used $40,000 in federal funds to pay the firm, the Denver Post reports.

The Colorado attorney general’s office had offered to do the analysis for only $75 an hour, but Hogan & Hartson was better qualified to handle the work, the governor’s economic recovery team spokeswoman Myung Oak Kim told the Denver Post.

Lawyers at Hogan & Hartson are charging the state $290 or $450 an hour, a discounted rate, the story says.

Ritter joined Hogan & Hartson in February 2005 after serving as Denver’s district attorney for 12 years, the Am Law Daily reports. He stayed with the firm for a year before leaving to run for governor.

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