I would be remiss if I did not report that the AG's Office has now updated its Bench and Bar ad to provide a much more detailed laundry list of qualifications it would like applicants to have. The crux of the new ad appears below.
Tired of sitting in your office reviewing documents and reading about cases but not arguing them in court yourself? Want to handle the type of legal work that inspired you to go to law school in the first place? The Office of the Minnesota Attorney General is seeking resumes from attorneys who are self-motivated and want to work in the public sector on challenging, cutting-edge legal issues. Applicants should have strong academic credentials (top 25% preferred), excellent verbal and written communication skills, initiative, drive, and a strong work ethic, and a commitment to public service. The Office of the Minnesota Attorney General offers a competitive compensation and benefits package. If you have the qualifications, please submit a resume to ...
Ironically, appearing directly to the left of the AG's ad on the Bench and Bar site is a link to an "attorney wanted" ad for Allina Hospitals & Clinics. As you may recall, Allina was once sued by former AG Mike Hatch.
1 comment:
Give yourself credit. The AG reads your blog, and this new ad is her response. Note that the ad only implies that the AG's Office seeks attorneys with some experience, but does not actually require that applicants have any. Note also that the laundry list of qualifications is meaningless boilerplate found in nearly every attorney-wanted ad.
Far more important, however, is the fact that experienced attorneys continue to leave the AG's Office, and with few exceptions, they are being replaced by inexperienced attorneys. More important still, because of the departures, these new attorneys, whatever their innate abilities, have few mentors to guide them. Some divisions are decimated. There is now no Consumer Enforcement division at the AG's Office. (BTW, there never was a "Complex Litigation" division.) Consumer cases are being passed off on lawyers in other divisions who are unable to handle them, and older cases are being settled for next to nothing or are being dropped altogether. Every civil defense firm in Minnesota now knows that the best way to handle an AG investigation or lawsuit is to string it out, not settle at a high cost. Eventually the AG will throw in the towel.
One more point. The local media needs to do its job. The story of the AG's Office did not end with the departure of Mike Hatch. Two months ago, when the story broke, former deputies and division managers with firsthand knowledge of the actions of Hatch and Swanson (actions that would shock the complacency of Minnesotans who like to boast that they live in a good-government state) were beginning to talk. Inexplicably and inexcusably, the press stopped asking questions. There is a Pulitzer Prize awaiting any journalist with the tenacity to follow through with this story about the past and continuing mismanagement and misuse of the highest law enforcement office in the state.
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