This item is cross-posted from govoversight.org
Last year, GAO filed a New Jersey OPRA suit for the contract (and disclosures) between the Garden State’s Attorney General and climate-plaintiffs’ law firm Sher Edling, LLP—some very basic details the plaintiffs seem to be very concerned about the public seeing, whatever the jurisdiction, after a few arrangements made their way into the public domain. GAO is pleased to report that, despite dogged resistance by NJ OAG, the AG’s Office has been ordered to release the records.
After considering the parties’ arguments and reviewing the withheld materials, in camera, the court has entered an order granting GAO’s motion force the NJ OAG to release the records GAO sought.
The information shielded here principally involved how much of the taxpayers’ purported damages the state would pay the law firm in this iteration of a wave of lawsuits which, GAO open records litigation in California documented, the firm is already being paid millions of dollars each year by left-wing foundations to file. That arrangement has since become the subject of U.S. House and Senate oversight and is uniquely of unique public interest.
NJ OAG argued that the fee arrangements would reveal its litigation strategy.