During the July meeting of Alabama’s Contract Review Committee, the Attorney General’s office defended five new contracts with lawyers from conservative law firm Cooper & Kirk for their assistance with the ongoing lawsuit Boe v. Marshall.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Clay Crenshaw told the legislators that “we have five contracts with lawyers from the Cooper & Kirk law firm up in D.C. to help us with the transgender litigation.” According to the committee agenda, each contract is for $195,000 at a $195 per hour rate.
The Attorney General’s office already had very similar contracts with Cooper & Kirk approved by the Contract Review Committee last year.
After being interrupted by a committee member trying to speed the meeting along, Crenshaw continued: “Senator, that litigation’s on hold right now because the U.S. Supreme Court took a case from Tennessee so these folks will not be billing.”
Boe v. Marshall is the lawsuit filed by Alabama parents on behalf of their transgender children over the statewide ban on gender-affirming care for minors Gov. Ivey signed in 2022. The lawsuit has been working its ways through the courts for the last couple years, with a judge on the 11th Circuit allowing Alabama to enforce the ban after an initial injunction.
But, as Crenshaw mentioned, the U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a similar case about restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors in the state of Tennessee. If the justices rule similarly to how they did on Bostock v. Clayton County and find the Tennessee restrictions are unconstitutional, the Alabama ban would likely also be affected.
When, or if, the litigation in Boe v. Marshall resumes, the firm the AG’s office has chosen to retain, Cooper & Kirk, would seem to be uniquely well suited to helping defend restrictions on gender-affirming care.
A profile of the firm in The National Law Journal reads: “If there is a conservative value that needs championing or defending, there is little doubt in the minds of people in the know who to call.”
The firm helped George W. Bush challenge recounts in Florida, which many say delivered Bush the 2000 election. Then, after the 2020 election, it was Cooper & Kirk lawyers who argued the Constitution prevents state courts from challenging election laws passed by state legislatures (a theory rejected by a six justice majority).
During the aughts and the 2010s, Cooper & Kirk lawyers argued against legalizing same-sex marriage in California and at the national level. More recently, Florida Gov. DeSantis hired the firm to defend his ambitious legislative agenda.
The Alabama Attorney General’s office has not replied to APR’s request for comment.
