DELLINGER'S 2006 COURTROOM VICTORY PROMOTES GOVERNMENT ETHICS; HIS COMMONSENSE PLAN FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICE SUPPLY PURCHASES WOULD SAVE MILLIONS IN TAXPAYER DOLLARS

In a case covered by newspapers across North Carolina, Hampton Dellinger successfully challenged an agency’s decision to award the entire state government office supplies contract to a higher priced bidder with financial ties to the agency’s consultant. During the case, Dellinger proposed a commonsense plan to award the office supplies contract that would save in excess of $10 million in taxpayers’ money over the next six years and uncovered a business relationship between the higher priced yet winning bidder and the agency’s consultant which a judge held created "an appearance of impropriety”.

Excerpt from The Charlotte Observer, 4/21/06

Bid saving N.C. millions rejected
Firm that helped form system used in awarding contract had close ties to eventual winner Office Depot

North Carolina rejected the best offer it received for office supplies and now will pay as much as $10.8 million more for essentials such as paper clips and memo pads over the next six years.

State contracting officials asked for bids from office supply companies last year to provide thousands of staplers, ink cartridges and other supplies to state agencies. The officials rejected the lowest bid, from Corporate Express, according to documents the company filed in a lawsuit scheduled for trial next week in Raleigh.

Lawyers for Colorado-based Corporate Express cry foul because the state's consulting firm on the contract had received millions of dollars from Office Depot, the company that won the bid. The state also used a brand new point-scoring system for deciding the bid winner. The legal duel between two office supply titans provides a rare inside glimpse at how the state spends millions of tax dollars.

State officials signed an $18.2 million-a-year deal with Florida-based Office Depot, even though giving Corporate Express part of the contract would have saved as much as $10.8 million over six years, according to the court documents.

"It just does not make sense to waste taxpayers' money in this way," said Hampton Dellinger, a lawyer representing Corporate Express and formerly a state deputy attorney general and legal counsel to Gov. Mike Easley....The lawsuit also underscores that the consulting firm, Accenture, which helped North Carolina solicit bids for the contract and structure the selection process, has a longstanding business relationship with Office Depot. Accenture didn't disclose that Office Depot is one of its clients, a potential conflict of interest, while Accenture was helping the state solicit the bids. Since 2003, Office Depot has paid $30 million to Accenture on projects such as new software to manage inventory and to overhaul the company's merchandising system.

Excerpt from the Raleigh News & Observer, 4/29/06

Ruling: State bungled bidding
Office supply deal unfair, judge says

The state mishandled the seemingly easy task of buying paper clips, pencils and other supplies, a judge ruled Friday.

After four days of testimony, including a focus on ethics in government, Administrative Law Judge Beecher "Gus" Gray said the state's handling of its office supplies contract appeared unethical and was unfair.

The state, Gray said, "should get the taxpayers the best deal it can," but didn't do that in this case.... Hampton Dellinger, a former state deputy attorney general who represented Corporate Express, called the judgment a victory for state taxpayers and for government ethics.