BREAKING NEWS: Court of Appeal holds public entities may retain private counsel on contingency-fee basis: County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court (Atlantic Richfield Co.)

This afternoon, the Court of Appeal (Sixth Appellate District) handed down its eagerly-anticipated opinion in County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court (Atlantic Richfield Co.), ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Apr. 8, 2008). The Court held that the public entities' contingency-fee agreements with their private counsel were valid and directed the trial court to vacate its order holding otherwise. I will post more on the decision tomorrow.