Attorneys representing Tyson Foods Inc. filed a motion (Read full motion) Wednesday that calls into question the legality of Attorney General Drew Edmonsdon awarding contingency fee contracts to several private law firms – including former attorney general and friend Mike Turpin – in regards to the poultry suit. Tyson lawyers hope to get the private attorneys dismissed and have Edmondson “carry his own water with this lawsuite” or have the suit dismissed altogether.

The motion states that Edmondson entered into contingency fee contracts with several private law firms authorizing them to represent the state and promising them a substantial portion of any recovery the state might obtain. The motion says such a contract “violates both the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions.”

“The Contingency Fee Contract transgresses due process under both the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions because it inextricably commingles use of the State’s power by private attorneys with an executory obligation on the part of the State to provide these attorneys with massive private profit that varies depending on the results of the litigation…”

“Moreover, because the Contract commits a large percentage of any damages the State may recover to the State Contingency Lawyers in the absence of a specific legislative authorization, the Attorney General has violated the separation-of-powers provisions of the Oklahoma Constitution…”

The motion aslso asks the question that the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman seems to want to ignore:

“The Attorney General is hardly immune from thoughts of personal gain in some form. The State Contingency Lawyers hired here are the same law firms the Attorney General hired to prosecute the State’s claims against the tobacco industry. These attorneys have donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Attorney General’s campaigns in recent years. In short, the Attorney General has hired his biggest supporters and has thereby violated due process by creating at least a reasonable impression of impropriety.”