Sanford Jay Rosen Represented Prominent Law Professors As Friends of the Court in Critical Public Interest Decision
On July 26, 2010, the California Supreme Court rejected an attempt by lead paint defendants to strip municipalities of high quality counsel. The high court rejected the paint manufacturer’s argument that municipal governments could not enter into contingent fee arrangements in public interest cases. RBG partner Sanford Jay Rosen filed an amicus curiae brief in the case on behalf of a group of nine nationally-recognized legal ethics professors led by UC Irvine Dean Erwin Chemerinsky in the case. In July 2009, when the briefs were filed, the Daily Journal quoted Rosen: “It is neither necessary nor appropriate under California law for public entities to be barred from hiring contingent-fee lawyers in such cases – especially in these turbulent economic and environmentally hazardous times.” The case at the Supreme Court is County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court (Atlantic Richfield), S163681.