A Democratic state senator has accused Alabama Attorney General Troy King of awarding a potentially lucrative contract to a GOP-oriented law firm. 

Sen. Roger H. Bedford said the contract should have been given directly to Jere Beasley's firm, which is working as a subcontractor.

"I want General King to quit playing this shell game," Bedford said Thursday after a legislative hearing. "A Republican attorney general didn't want to take the political heat for hiring a plaintiff's firm."

On Thursday, the Alabama Legislature's Contract Review Committee approved a contract that King handed to Hand Arendall LLC in 2005 to sue 79 drug manufacturers for allegedly overcharging the state's Medicaid Agency. The committee didn't endorse the deal for two years because of misplaced paperwork.

Hand Arendall contracted with Beasley Allen, headed by Beasley, to pursue the lawsuit.

Bedford, D-Russellville, said Republican elected officials are letting campaign donations dictate who gets state contracts. As a result, Bedford said Alabama taxpayers could receive less money from a favorable judgment because an extra law firm has to be cut in.

Caine O'Rear III, chairman of Hand Arendall's litigation section, referred questions about the drug suit to King's office.

"Sen. Bedford was inaccurate in his assumption," King spokesman Chris Bence said after Thursday's committee hearing.

Beasley disputed Bedford's contention that his firm has done all of the legal work in the case. "Both firms have worked equally hard," said Beasley, who acknowledged his firm is associated with Democrats.

Hand Arendall is working on a contingency-fee basis, which means the firm won't get paid unless it wins.

King said the state has yet to pay anything to Hand Arendall.

Bedford said Beasley Allen has spent more than $900,000 on discovery and appeals of trial court rulings so far.

Beasley said he wouldn't be surprised if that was true because the firm has four attorneys devoted almost exclusively to the case. But Beasley couldn't confirm the figure.

King said the case, set for trial in February, might yield a judgment in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The state would likely have to split the money with the federal government, which funds part of Medicaid.

King said the law firms could get up to 14 percent of the state's share of the court award. The courts will decide the final fees.

Bedford, who is a lawyer, said he flagged the Hand Arendall contract on Thursday's committee agenda because the firm usually can be found defending corporations, not suing them. The firm's slogan is: "Helping businesses stay the course since 1941."

King told the committee that he thought a firm such as Hand Arendall could bring "a fresh set of eyes" to the case.

Bedford scoffed at King's rationale for using Hand Arendall. "I think you should have hired Jere Beasley directly," Bedford told King. "Let's not hire a Republican firm to subcontract with a Democratic one."