The contracts would each pay Maynard Cooper & Gale up to $100,000, all from state money. Bentley's contract, dated May 9, would last through May 8, 2018. Stabler's started July 1 and would run through June 30, 2018. Each would pay attorneys for the firm $195 an hour. Paralegals will receive $65 an hour. Entries on the agenda say "outside counsel is required" in the suit but do not go into detail. The agenda says attorney John C. Neiman, a former solicitor general for Alabama, would be assigned to both cases. The Alabama Attorney General's office has appointed Neiman a Deputy Attorney General for the case.
Yasamie August, a spokeswoman for the governor, wrote in an email Tuesday that the Governor's legal staff brings outside attorneys in "to assist with a case due to the volume of their daily workload."
"Coverage is provided to state employees who are sued in their individual capacities by the Division of Risk Management," she wrote. "The governor is also provided this coverage."
According to the contract provided by the governor's office, Maynard Cooper and Gale has done work represented 12 state agencies, including the Department of Transportation, the Department of Corrections and the Retirement Systems of Alabama, since Oct. 1, 2014. The firm has also done work for the University of Alabama System, the University of South Alabama and Alabama A&M.
Collier filed suit against Bentley, Stabler and Rebekah Caldwell Mason, the governor's former political advisor, in April. Collier says Bentley and Mason fired him after he submitted an affidavit in the criminal investigation of former House Speaker Mike Hubbard, and accuses Bentley and Mason of wrongful termination and defamation. The lawsuit accuses Stabler of defaming Collier to become ALEA Secretary. Collier's complaint said he was suing Bentley and Stabler as individuals and not in their official capacities.
All three defendants have moved to dismiss the lawsuit. The governor argued in a May filing he has sovereign immunity "for any claims arising from actions taken while executing the duties of his office." Stabler accused Collier of making "irresponsible and misleading factual allegations" in the suit. Both say Collier can state no grounds for relief.
Bentley fired Collier in March and released a statement saying that a report about spending at ALEA had turned up issues "including possible misuse of state funds." Collier strongly denied those accusations. Shortly after his dismissal, Collier held a news conference in which he accused Bentley and Mason of having an affair; of using state resources to pursue it and of firing him for the Hubbard affidavit.
Audio of Bentley making suggestive comments on a phone call has surfaced, and the governor acknowledged making inappropriate remarks to Mason. But both deny a physical affair, and Bentley says he did not misuse state resources.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Eugene Reese will hold a hearing in August on Mason's motion to dismiss. Mason's attorneys have written in filings that they believe a criminal investigation into Collier's allegations is underway, and Collier's attorney says law enforcement has questioned the former ALEA Secretary.
The allegations have also led to ethics complaints against Bentley and Mason, and have sparked an inquiry into the governor's possible impeachment. Bentley calls that move "political grandstanding" and says he has done nothing warranting impeachment.
Defense attorney Joe Espy is representing the governor in that case. August wrote that Espy is not being paid with public funds.