A Democrat and two Republicans on the Baltimore County Council are united in opposition to a proposal from the county’s legal office to potentially pursue a climate lawsuit and award a no-bid contract to Sher Edling LLP, the San Francisco-based plaintiffs’ law firm that has received financial support from Leonardo DiCaprio and wealthy foundations.
The proposed contract with Sher Edling – which would pay the law firm up to 25 percent of any recovery if the potential litigation is successful – was brought before the county council during a November 15 meeting where the Baltimore Sun reported that “council members express[ed] doubts.”
Tom Quirk, a Democratic council member, didn’t hold back his deep skepticism of pursuing a lawsuit, saying it would just enrich plaintiffs’ attorneys and not advance actual solutions to address climate change:
“I’m also not very inclined to jump on some of these ambulance-chasing type of legal strategies out there nationwide that I think often are more about feeding law firms as opposed to really doing good work.” (emphasis added)
Likewise, council member Wade Kach, a Republican, criticized law firms going after American energy companies for legal production of oil and natural gas, saying:
“I don’t want to see a situation where you have a private law firm with the idea of: ‘Oh my gosh, we can get these huge legal fees by going every after every company, every producer of petroleum.’ … I just don’t understand — if a company adheres to every standard that is legally in place — how we could sue them.” (emphasis added)
Todd Crandell, another Republican on the county council, said that such litigation would be hypocritical considering the county needs energy to maintain operations, as the Sun noted:
“‘I’m going to ask a series of questions. And they’re rhetorical.’ One by one, he asked whether a variety of county vehicles — from school buses to police cars — run on gas.
“‘Yes, they do,’ Crandell said. ‘So, I can’t fathom why we’re considering suing oil companies when we are a customer, and we need their product to run county government.’
Crandell added the case ‘seems to me like a money grab.’” (emphasis added)
Of the seven members on the county council, three have already shown deep skepticism or outright opposition to a climate lawsuit, meaning it would only take one more member for a majority of the council to oppose such a case.
Key Questions Now Facing Baltimore County
With strong opposition to even the possibility of a lawsuit, Baltimore County now faces several key questions.
In nearby Annapolis, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network proposed the idea of litigation and suggested the city hire Sher Edling. Did Sher Edling, or another third party, approach the Baltimore County Office of Law and suggest litigation?
The county contract proposes to give 25 percent of a potential recovery to Sher Edling. But bombshell reporting from Fox News earlier this year revealed that the law firm has received millions of dollars in funding from Leonardo DiCaprio and other wealthy donors. Why would the county then agree to awarding Sher Edling 25 percent of damages up to $100 million?
The Sun reported that it was Baltimore County’s law office wants to hire a legal firm to consider litigation against fossil fuels companies over climate change.” Is this process being driven by unelected county employees who are attempting to pressure elected county council members in to pursuing litigation?
With a near-majority of county council members expressing bipartisan opposition and skepticism towards a prospective lawsuit, will the county law office continue to advocate for it ahead of a potential vote?
Bottom Line: The initial trial balloon for a Baltimore County climate lawsuit aided by Sher Edling is already facing stiff resistance.
According to the Sun, the council could vote on the proposal as early as its next meeting on Monday, November 21. In the meantime, the county now faces several questions – and deserves answers – about how this idea came about and why the county should give such a massive sum of money to a law firm already getting paid to bring this litigation.
