The Michigan Department of Attorney General utilizes the services of Special Assistant Attorneys General from time to time when the unique circumstances of a particular case create the need for specialized services not currently available within the department.
The Michigan Attorney General has determined that a full and complete investigation of what happened within the Catholic Church is required. This investigation is and will continue to be independent, thorough, transparent, and prompt. My department and this investigation will find out who knew what, and when.
The Conviction Integrity Unit (the “CIU”) investigates claims of innocence to determine whether there is clear and convincing new evidence that the convicted defendant was not the person who committed the offense.
In Michigan, a victim is an individual who suffers direct or threatened physical, financial, or emotional harm as a result of the commission of a crime.
The Task Force launched in 2019 and consists of more than 55 different organizations in the public, private and nonprofit sectors - all working together to combat elder abuse.
The laws regarding expungement of criminal offenses in Michigan changed in major ways in April of 2021. This page is designed to help applicants navigate their way through the new laws, help them determine if they are eligible to have convictions expunged, to answer frequently asked questions about the new laws, and to provide links for resources and assistance.
To investigate and prosecute hate crimes by following up on every credible tip and offer departmental resources to assist local and federal law enforcement partners in this effort.
The Michigan Attorney General is leading the fight against this horrific crime by prosecuting the state's first-ever criminal cases under state law banning human trafficking in Michigan. Victims of human trafficking are in bondage through force, fraud or coercion, for the purpose of sex or labor exploitation.
Knowing how to guard your personal information is your first line of defense against identity theft.
Michigan Attorney General's robocall initiative is leading several efforts to protect Michigan residents from the billion plus robocalls made to them every year.
Michigan's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231 et seq, provides that requesters can receive copies or make inspections of most public records of public bodies upon written request.
The Open Meetings Act (OMA) took effect January 1, 1977. In enacting the OMA, the Legislature promoted a new era in governmental accountability and fostered openness in government to enhance responsible decision making.1 Nothing in the OMA prohibits a public body from adopting an ordinance, resolution, rule, or charter provision that requires a greater degree of openness relative to public body meetings than the standards provided for in the OMA. 2
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This RFP is to solicit proposals from attorneys and law firms with experience and interest in pursuing constitutional, statutory, tort, or other applicable common law claims against PCB manufacturers for deceiving the public about PCB toxicity that they knew their products would cause, and for the costs the State of Michigan has spent and will continue to spend to address and recover from PCBs in Michigan’s environment and resources. The Attorney General of the State of Michigan seeks to hold accountable PCB manufacturers that profited from their actions for the damage they have caused and are causing. This RFP is for representation of the State of Michigan as duly appointed Special Assistant Attorneys General on a contingency fee basis.
The State of Michigan, its departments and agencies, and the State’s businesses, residents, infrastructure, public and private lands, and natural resources suffer from the negative impacts of PCBs.
PCBs are persistent organic pollutants that bioaccumulate and biomagnify up the food chain. PCBs were widely used in industry and manufacturing until the 1979 national ban on the sale of PCBs. The PCB manufacturers were aware of the negative impacts of the use of PCBs but continued to knowingly engage in business practices and conduct that harmed the public’s health, safety, and welfare and the environment. The PCB manufacturers also hid information and deceived the public, consumers, and the industry, both in and outside of Michigan, about the dangers of using PCBs in industry and manufacturing.
PCBs are present in Michigan’s environment, including the air, water, soil, sediment, and biota, including in fish and game tissue. Michigan has inherited a significant amount of legacy contamination and has spent considerable time, effort, and funds to address PCB contamination through remediation and removal projects and restoration of damaged natural resources. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources manages property for the People that is contaminated with PCBs that were manufactured, marketed, distributed, and introduced into commerce by PCB manufacturers. The State’s Clean Water Act Section 303(d) list, which lists the State’s impaired and threatened waters, identifies over 620 surface waters in the State that are currently impaired due to PCB contamination in the water column, fish tissue, or both. Michigan has issued PCB-specific consumption advisories for fish and wild game, to the detriment of Michigan’s subsistence and sport fishers and the State itself.
The Department of Attorney General (DAG) has long enforced Michigan’s environmental statutes and rules to protect the environment, natural resources, and public health and to require compliance with standards and limits on discharges into our environment. The regulatory framework alone may not fully account for the damage caused by PCB product use, however, due to, among other things, the concealment of the known true hazards of the use of PCBs by the industry. Therefore, the State seeks to build on Michigan’s longstanding history of environmental and resource protection to address the PCB injuries and impacts that need to be addressed by retaining Special Assistant Attorneys General (SAAGs) to pursue constitutional, statutory, tort and other applicable common-law claims extending to the deception and other wrongful actions by the PCB manufacturers and to require the parties who profited from manufacturing, marketing, and distributing PCBs to bear the costs of cleanup and restoration in Michigan, rather than the State, taxpayers, or residents of Michigan.
The work to be performed consists of assisting the DAG in gathering needed information, determining what claims will be brought, drafting the complaints (as appropriate), conducting affirmative and defensive discovery, taking and defending depositions, motion practice, and preparing for and conducting any trials that may proceed. The DAG, at all times, will direct the litigation in all respects, including but not limited to, whether and when to initiate litigation, against whom actions will be taken, the claims to be brought in said litigation, approval and rejection of all settlement offers, and the amount and type of damages and injunctive relief to be sought.
The scope of work includes providing all necessary personnel, labor, materials, services, equipment, supplies, time, travel, effort, skill, and supervision required to examine, investigate, recommend, and litigate the State’s possible constitutional, statutory, tort and other applicable common law claims against PCB manufacturer defendants including but not limited to producers, transporters, manufacturers, distributors, promoters, marketers, and/or sellers of PCB products.
SAAGs will be appointed to represent the State in litigation against PCB defendants. SAAGs will develop and propose a litigation strategy to the Attorney General or her designees, including:
Prior to providing any legal services on behalf of the State, an attorney must be appointed by the Attorney General as a SAAG. SAAGs must consult in advance with and advise the Attorney General’s designated representatives regarding all substantive issues affecting the litigation, as set forth in more detail in the SAAG Contract (PDF).
4. Out of Scope.
The work does not include regulatory enforcement or claims under State or federal environmental laws not specifically and expressly agreed to by the Attorney General.