Despite employing thousands of lawyers, the state paid 80m euros to law firms in three years
State institutions, central and local, spent 80 million euros
between 2008 and 2010 (27 million euros per year) on law firm fees,
while at the same time paying thousands of lawyers who work within
state institutions, reveals a report of the Court of Accounts sent
to the speakers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies at the
beginning of October. The Court of Accounts terms this a waste of
money and calls on Parliament to intervene.
The central authorities and the subordinated ones (public
corporations, companies) paid 75 million euros to external lawyers
in the above-mentioned mentioned period, even though they have
6,800 lawyers employed, to whom they paid nearly 65 million euros
for their services. Local institutions paid nearly 66 million euros
to their own lawyers and 14 million euros to external ones.
In all, the state paid 928 million RON (220 million euros) to
lawyers - 550 million RON (130 million euros) of which to internal
lawyers and 337 million RON (80 million euros) to law firms. The
legislation does not prohibit public entities from hiring law
firms, but the Court of Accounts warns that the state, despite
having a thick legal apparatus, pays millions of euros to law
firms.