Bill to hire lawyers on contingency fails (Chaisson Goes Ballistic!)
by WILL SENTELL AND MARSHA SHULER - Advocate (excerpt)

Louisiana Senate President Joel Chaisson II denounced House leaders and “big oil” Monday after his bill died that would have let the state hire private attorneys to pursue Gulf oil disaster lawsuits for a slice of any legal victories. “I’m going to ask the governor to call a special session,” an angry Chaisson told the state Senate. “It is despicable what happened today,” he added.

Chaisson’s Senate Bill 731 died awaiting a Louisiana House vote when time ran out in the 2010 regular legislative session. House Speaker Jim Tucker blamed Chaisson for the bill’s demise. “He held it and delayed and quite frankly tried to jam it down our throats,” Tucker, R-Terrytown, said of Chaisson.

Chaisson’s bill would have given state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell the authority to hire private attorneys to pursue lawsuits in the wake of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. Lobbyists for the business and insurance communities were critical of the measure from the outset. They said it would trigger needless lawsuits and damage the state’s business climate.