Pittsburgh attorney David Fawcett, a former Allegheny County Councilman whose legal crusade against an Appalachian coal baron prompted a U.S. Supreme Court opinion and a John Grisham novel, will run for state attorney general as a Democrat next year.
"The office of Attorney General is, unfortunately, dysfunctional," said Mr. Fawcett, referencing beleaguered incumbent Kathleen Kane. “I'm running to provide the kind of leadership needed to reinvigorate the office and return integrity to it."
An attorney at Reed Smith, Mr. Fawcett is best known for representing Hugh Caperton, a West Virginia coal-mine owner who sued one of the industry's titans: former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship
Mr. Caperton alleged that Mr. Blankenship drove his firm into bankruptcy through unscrupulous business dealings, and in 2002, Mr. Fawcett and another attorney won him a $50 million jury verdict. West Virginia's Supreme Court reversed the ruling, but the 3-2 majority included a justice who won election with $3 million of help from Mr. Blankenship. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled the justice should have recused himself because, given Mr. Blankenship’s support, the "probability of actual bias rises to an unconstitutional level."
"I knew it was going to be the fight of my life," Mr. Fawcett said of the case,which inspired John Grisham's 2008 novel "The Appeal." The Caperton saga, he said, “implicates the entire justice system.”
More recently, Mr. Fawcett has represented Gregory Brown, who was convicted of setting a fire that killed three Pittsburgh firefighters in 2005. That conviction was later overturned when courts ruled that prosecutors had not disclosed that two key witnesses were promised a reward for their testimony. The case is being retried by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala’s office.
While Mr. Fawcett has never been a prosecutor, he said he had “decades of experience” in “fighting companies who value profits over the rule of law, and taking on judicial corruption."
Mr. Fawcett, of Oakmont, will run as a Democrat, though he served as a Republican on Allegheny County Council between 2000 and 2007. He said he changed his affiliation after the GOP strayed from its fiscally conservative principles.
He hasn't run for elected office since. "I don't think either party is going to knight me,” he said. “I'll do what I've always done: look for grassroots support."
It’s not clear whether Ms. Kane, who faces charges related to leaks of grand-jury information, will seek to run again. But two Montgomery County Republicans — state Senator John Rafferty and state Rep. Todd Stephens — have launched campaigns. So has Democrat Jack Stollsteimer, a former prosecutor from Delaware County.
Mr. Fawcett is the only Western Pennsylvanian in the race so far.
Mr. Zappala has been the subject of candidacy rumors, which were stoked when he appeared at a state Democratic Party gathering in September. But Mr. Zappala told a reporter he was just there “seeing friends”; when asked Thursday about Mr. Zappala’s plans, a spokesman said he “considers it an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Allegheny County”
Attorney Heather Heidelbaugh, who currently holds Mr. Fawcett’s former County Council post, has also been named as a potential candidate. But she said that while she was considering future options, “it wasn’t the right time” for an AG run.
“I adore Dave Fawcett,” she added. “I’m glad he’s putting his name in the ring.”
First Published: November 19, 2015, 4:46 p.m.
Updated: November 20, 2015, 4:26 a.m.
