As usual, the Wall Street Journal stands head-and-shoulders above the journalistic crowd in reporting trial bar shenanigans. In a column today, Kimberley Strassel notes the practice of ambitious state Attorneys General like West Virginia’s Darrell McGraw, who file “questionable lawsuits against big companies, secretly doling out the legal work to outside trial lawyers friends who reap millions in fees.”

And of course, what goes around comes around. “Those lawyers then turn around and donate heavily to Mr. McGraw’s re-election.”

What is different today, Ms. Strassel reports, is that the public is beginning to take notice of this dirty practice. As a result, reform candidates are beginning to get traction. West Virginia’s AG is facing a spirited challenge from Dan Greear, who recently signed the model “Attorney General Transparency Code.” Other reform candidates are running strong in Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina.