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All But One California Attorney General Candidate Not 'fully Qualified'

California Attorney General candidates Steve Cooley and Kamala Harris are not fully qualified to serve as the state's leading attorney, according to independent Green Party AG candidate Peter Allen, an experienced civil litigator and prosecutor who has worked on major securities fraud and environmental cases.

Allen says that while Cooley and Harris have criminal law experience, they do not have the needed experience in civil litigation, consumer advocacy, energy law, environmental law, financial and securities fraud litigation, telecommunications law or administrative law.

In fact, in eight key practice categories, Cooley and Harris have experience in only one area, while Allen has experience in all eight (see chart at http://peterallenforag.blogspot.com/)

"People tend to think of the Attorney General as California's criminal prosecutor. But the reality is that criminal prosecution is only a small part of the Attorney General's job. The Attorney General represents California in many different types and areas of law," said Allen.

Allen notes that Cooley, the Republican candidate for Attorney General, and Harris, the Democratic candidate, have only been prosecutors in local district attorneys' offices. They have little or no experience in the other types of law required of the Attorney General, such as civil litigation and administrative law.

Allen currently works for California on statewide energy and environmental issues, and has a much wider variety of legal experience.

"I have been a prosecutor, administrative law judge, and consumer advocate, and I have worked to help victims of the savings and loan crisis and the California energy crisis. That breadth of experience has given me a valuable perspective on the range of legal issues facing California and its residents," said Allen, noting a broad range of experience in more than 20 years of law practice.

Allen has worked on major environmental cases, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill and represented residential and small business ratepayers against big utilities.