Louisiana Attorney General-elect Buddy Caldwell said he wants his office free of politics and speedier on issuing guidance on legal matters when he takes office in January 2008.
Caldwell, who moves into the job Jan. 14, told the Press Club of Baton Rouge he’s taking applications for top staff at the Department of Justice and is considering whether to proceed with pending lawsuits filed by current Attorney General Charles Foti.
Among the outstanding lawsuits is a case filed against insurance companies, accusing them of conspiring to limit payments to policyholders after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and engaging in a price-fixing scheme. That lawsuit was moved to federal court.
“I have not had the opportunity, frankly, to examine the merits of the litigation,” Caldwell said.
He said the attorney general’s office currently takes too long to issue many opinions on legal matters, the nonbinding legal guidance sought by agencies and officials from Louisiana’s top legal office.
Caldwell, a Democratic district attorney for East Carroll, Madison and Tensas parishes in northeast Louisiana, ousted Foti, a Democrat, in this fall’s elections.
The newly elected attorney general said he’s talking to the state’s law schools about helping the Department of Justice, with law students possibly doing research for legal opinions and trial cases.
While he’s considering how or whether to shuffle lawyers at the department, Caldwell said he intends to keep his son on the payroll. David Caldwell has worked at the attorney general’s office for three years, and Caldwell said he doesn’t see an ethical problem with him staying in the job.
“Frankly, he’s such a good lawyer, I’m pleased to have him,” Caldwell said
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