Private Law Firms Pursuing State Suits Against Nursing Homes, Hired by AGs

Avenging angels or unholy alliance? A lawsuit filed by the New Mexico Attorney General in December 2014 against Preferred Care Partners Management Group, a large, privately held management company operating nursing homes in New Mexico and nationally, raises interesting questions about whether AGs should be teaming with private lawyers to pursue cases of alleged malpractice, abuse or fraud affecting consumers.  The  Plano, Texas-based defendant asserts that “lobbying” of state attorney generals by private firms to pursue questionable claims is improper, pointing to campaign contributions paid by law firms or individual lawyers, as well as contingent fee arrangements that defendants argue reduce the States’ accountability.

The current New Mexico AG has defended his state’s relationship with the Washington D.C. law firm of Cohen Milstein.  According to the Santa Fe New Mexican:

Current Attorney General Hector Balderas blasted back at the company through a spokesman. “Bilking taxpayers for inadequate care and denying helpless and vulnerable residents basic services will not be tolerated,” he said. “Our office will continue to aggressively protect New Mexico’s taxpayers and our most vulnerable populations.”

Currently, the New Mexico case is in federal court, following the defendant’s removal from the original filing in state court.   The law suit — and the issue of private/public partnerships in pursuing claims on behalf of consumers and/or taxpayers —  is generating a lot of attention in the business world. Recent coverage includes linked news stories by the New York Times, the Albuquerque Journal, and McKnight’s LTC News.