DOTD hires Faircloth for contract legal work

The Jindal administration has again sought the governor's former executive counsel to do legal work for the state, this time for the Department of Transportation and Development.

Jimmy Faircloth is representing the department in a lawsuit filed by a Shreveport-based health care firm over the route of a highway extension in Caddo Parish. Faircloth said Friday that he was contacted by DOTD last week to do the legal work.

DOTD spokeswoman Jodi Conachen said Faircloth will be paid $175 an hour for the three-year contract, with a cap of $150,000.

Faircloth also has been hired to defend Gov. Bobby Jindal's education revamp in court. He's representing the state, the Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.