A day after Kansas notified Planned Parenthood in May 2016 that it would cut off its participation in Medicaid, the nonprofit group sued to block the move.
So Kansas hired three high-powered East Coast law firms to defend it in a case that would slog on for nearly three years before Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys administration agreed to drop the termination effort in April.
The case dates back to the administration of Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican who vowed to defund Planned Parenthood after he accused it of profiting from the sale of fetal tissue.
The states legal defense cost taxpayers at least $899,000, according to records obtained by KCUR through the Kansas Open Records Act.
One of the law firms retained by Kansas Washington, D.C.,-based Consovoy McCarthy Park represents President Donald Trump in a lawsuit seeking to block his accounting firm from complying with a congressional subpoena of Trumps financial records. (A federal judge on Monday ruled that the accounting firm must comply with the subpoena.)
A boutique firm boasting several former U.S. Supreme Court law clerks, Consovoy McCarthy billed more than $396,000 for its work on the Medicaid termination case from August 2016 through August 2018, invoices from the firm show.
One of the biggest law firms in the world, Norton Rose Fulbright, billed Kansas more than $471,000 for work it performed during the same two-year span.
And a third firm specializing in litigation, Cooper & Kirk, billed nearly $31,000 for a months worth of work in June 2016. (The firm had initially billed $61,910, but a note on the invoice states it was renegotiated per Governors office 12/22/16.)
The law firms commanded billing rates ranging from $492 per hour to $750 an hour. Those compare with average billing rates for Kansas law firms of $244 an hour, according to a 2017 survey by the Kansas Bar Association.
Law firm invoices typically provide detailed descriptions of the services they rendered. However, those portions of the invoices were blacked out in the copies obtained by KCUR. So its unclear what work the firms performed for the money.
Katelyn Radloff, an attorney with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the defendant in the case, told KCUR in an email that the redacted portions fell under the attorney-client privilege exception to the Kansas Open Records Act.
Ordinarily, the state attorney generals office defends Kansas in suits brought against it or its agencies. But occasionally and especially in matters involving complex litigation the state hires outside counsel to represent it.
A spokesman for Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt did not respond to questions about why the state chose to hire outside counsel in this case rather than have the attorney generals office defend the case.
Ashley All, a spokeswoman for Kelly, made clear in an email that the newly elected governor regarded the case as a waste.
Multiple courts ruled against the previous administrations effort to remove Planned Parenthood as a KanCare provider, All said. To continue with this costly litigation would be unwise and out of step with the priorities of Kansas. Governor Kelly is focused on expanding healthcare options to women, not limiting them.
