Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R.) recently found himself at odds with Morgan & Morgan, a prominent national law firm known for its generous contributions to the Democratic Party.
The conflict arose when Kobach dismissed the firm for what he deemed as substandard performance in a state lawsuit against natural gas companies accused of price gouging. The firm's response to this dismissal, however, has raised questions about its ethical conduct.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, following the termination of their services, Morgan & Morgan, led by notable Joe Biden supporter John Morgan, refused to return all records related to the case to Kobach's office. This move, seen as a standard procedure in any attorney-client relationship, was met with resistance from the firm. "We have work product we are not returning in the form of spreadsheets, deficiency notices, and transcripts which you placed in a few folders for us and are also located in our share drives," Morgan & Morgan attorney Douglas Acklin wrote to colleagues on March 31, 2023.
The firm, which prides itself as "Americas Largest Injury Firm," also took the unusual step of removing organizational codes from 10,000 documents returned to Kobachs office. This action, perceived as a deliberate attempt to complicate the case, has raised eyebrows among Kobach's team. In a heated exchange with a Kobach deputy, Morgan & Morgan attorney James Young accused Kobach of engaging in "coordinated political hackery" with the oil and gas industry, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and others.
"From an attorney ethics perspective, this is wildly unethical," said a person involved in the discussions with Morgan & Morgan. "Deliberately withholding documents that we were on contract for that should be owned by us. I was flabbergasted that they were taking that position."
This incident comes at a challenging time for the Florida-based Morgan & Morgan, which handles a wide range of cases from slip and fall accidents to environmental issues. Recently, a federal judge fined three of its attorneys for citing fictitious cases generated by an AI chatbot in a personal injury lawsuit against Walmart. These ethical concerns, coupled with the firm's political leanings, could potentially deter other Republican states and municipalities from engaging with Morgan & Morgan.
Between 2017 and 2023, Morgan & Morgan lawyers donated $4.5 million to Democratic candidates and causes, as per FEC filings. Firm founder John Morgan has been a staunch supporter and donor to former president Joe Biden, even amidst calls for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race due to health and mental acuity concerns. Morgan's close ties with the Biden family, including flying Bidens brother, Frank Biden, to the presidential inauguration in 2021 on his private jet, have been well-documented.
"Between the recent sanctions proceedings over use of AI case citations and this revelation about trying to withhold case materials from a former client, it may well be that Morgan & Morgan's days of working for states are numbered," said O.H. Skinner, a former solicitor general for Arizona and executive director of Alliance for Consumers. "These are not minor infractions, they go to the reliability of the firm vis-a-vis the public trust."
The Wall Street Journal editorial board in 2023 questioned the rationale behind Republican-led states hiring the firm, given its position as one of the Democratic Partys biggest supporters. The board commended Kobach and Iowa attorney general Breanna Bird for severing ties with Morgan & Morgan, criticizing firms like it that handle cases based on contingency fees, which they argue often benefit trial lawyers at the expense of states.
John Morgan, however, stands by his firm's work for Kobachs office and insists that their dismissal was politically motivated. "We maintain that our firing was politically motivated and hurt Kansans, who will never see justice since the AG walked away from the case earlier this year," Morgan told the Free Beacon. "We fulfilled every obligation we had during the transition, and the record supports that we did everything by the books."
However, Kobachs office disputes this claim, while acknowledging that it was not unexpected for Morgan & Morgan to react negatively to being dropped from the Kansas case. "What was a surprise was the completely scummy way that they responded to what was ultimately an ordinary business decision that attorneys deal with every day," a source said. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the complex interplay between politics, ethics, and the legal profession.
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