Special Commissions

Special commissions are not required when the matter would materially impact or likely result in payment from the public liability fund. In this case, the matter should be handled by the Risk Management Division.

A request for a special commission should be as narrow as possible and should consider the following:

• The request must specify the attorney for whom the request is made and the scope of the matter or matters that the representation is intended to cover.
• The request must be made by the agency’s general counsel or another management-level employee.
• The request must be submitted sufficiently in advance to ensure timely representation. Any time-sensitive requirements that are outside of the agency’s control should be noted in the submission.
• The request must include the attorney’s up-to-date curriculum vitae or résumé.
• The attorney’s qualifications should align with the nature and complexity of the legal matter. Requests involving highly specialized or sensitive matters may not be approved if the proposed attorney lacks sufficient experience. However, a newly licensed or less experienced attorney may serve in a supporting role (e.g., second chair) or act as lead counsel under the active supervision of a qualified, sufficiently experienced attorney.
• When it would be administratively burdensome to repeatedly request a special commission, NMDOJ may issue a broader special commission (e.g., routine, high-volume matters where individual requests would not be practicable).