Campaigns funded by firms politicians oversee

Cahill, who chairs the board that oversees the Pension Reserves Investment Trust Fund, is the chief beneficiary, reaping at least $115,495 since his first run for treasurer in 2002, including $16,000 since last July when he announced his independent candidacy for governor. Coakley’s campaign accounts have collected at least $59,750 from the liti gators and their relatives. Of that amount, $27,550 went to her unsuccessful campaign for US Senate last January.

Spokeswomen for Cahill and Coakley said the contributions played no part in the selection of the law firms, which were chosen in a competitive process five years ago. The firms are paid only if they prevail in a suit against a company in which the $44 billion state pension fund invests. To date, the only firm paid in such a suit is not among the big campaign funders.

Cahill’s first deputy treasurer, Grace H. Lee, said all vendors hired by the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board “are subject to a rigorous procurement process and are selected for their expertise.’’

“Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false,’’ she said. “As legal matters arise, securities litigation firms are selected to represent PRIM through a rotation.’’

“The pool of law firms eligible to be designated as special assistant attorneys general to represent PRIM was selected in 2005, under the previous administration,’’ Emily LaGrassa, spokeswoman for Coakley, said in a statement. “Any and all campaign contributions are publicly disclosed and have no impact on the work of this office.’’

All of the firms monitor the pension fund holdings to identify stock price declines that may be attributable to corporate misfeasance or fraud. They then make proposals for litigation that are reviewed by the staffs of the treasurer, the Pension Reserves Board, and the attorney general.

Representatives of two of the firms said they support candidates who advocate for shareholder rights and corporate accountability.

“There isn’t any connection between or relationship between campaign contributions and getting business,’’ said Jeffrey C. Block, a partner at Boston-based Berman DeValerio, which represents about 75 public pension funds around the country. He said the rotation system precludes favoritism in selecting the firms to bring suit against corporations suspected of wrongdoing.

Berman DeValerio has represented the Pension Reserves Board in two cases, one of which is pending, according to documents produced by Coakley’s office in response to the Globe’s public records request.

The firm’s lawyers and their relatives have donated a total of $29,195 to Cahill since 2002 and $40,700 to Coakley since 2005 when she became a candidate for attorney general, the Globe review showed. About half the Coakley contributions were to her Senate campaign.

Block said he and others from his firm met with Cahill when he first ran for state treasurer, and Cahill indicated “the pension fund should hold Wall Street accountable.’’

Backing for Coakley, a former Middlesex district attorney, is due in part to the fact that two lawyers at the firm knew and supported her before she became attorney general, Block said.

One of Cahill’s largest political benefactors is the New York firm of Labaton Sucharow LLP, whose attorneys and relatives have poured at least $73,800 into his campaign coffers in the past eight years. Last September, the Globe cited the firm’s heavy financial support of the campaigns of Cahill and two county treasurers, Norfolk’s Joseph A. Connolly and Plymouth’s Thomas J. O’Brien, who also chair boards that use the firm in securities litigation.

“We are proud to publicly support those officials and office-seekers who are interested in a positive investor agenda which includes a desire to fight to protect and strengthen the rights of investors and their constituencies, who have been the victims of securities fraud or over-reaching,’’ Jennifer S. Bankston, the firm’s spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Labaton Sucharow has represented the Pension Reserves Board in two cases, one of which is still active. The firm’s lawyers have not contributed to Coakley’s campaigns, a search of the database of the Office of Campaign and Political Finance indicates.

The third major funding source is the New York firm of Bernstein Liebhard LLP, which has represented the Pension Reserves Board in one case and whose attorneys and family members have contributed at least $12,500 to Cahill, $18,300 to Coakley, and $11,000 to Thomas F. Reilly, Coakley’s predecessor, who initiated the 2005 process to select four securities litigation firms from among eight finalists.

A Bernstein Liebhard partner did not respond to Globe phone messages requesting comment.

A Wall Street Journal report in February identified Bernstein Liebhard as the nation’s top source of political contributions among law firms specializing in securities litigation. The firm’s lawyers and their relatives donated more than $1 million to candidates outside the firm’s home state over a 9 1/2-year period, according to the newspaper. Labaton Sucharow ranked fifth, generating more than $600,000.

Labaton Sucharow’s attorneys evidently are looking ahead. Last month, a dozen lawyers and eight relatives each donated the maximum $500, or $10,000 in all, to the campaign of former state and national Democratic Party chairman Steven Grossman, one of three candidates running to succeed Cahill as treasurer. The contributions were unsolicited, said Bankston and Al Gordon, Grossman’s campaign spokesman.

The fourth firm selected to represent the Pension Reserves Board, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll of Washington, D.C., is not a major campaign donor, though two of its attorneys gave a combined $750 to Coakley’s Senate campaign, records show. The firm has represented the board in two cases, one against Tyco International Ltd. that resulted in recouping $11 million last year. Another case is pending. “I’m not saying we’ve never contributed money politically,’’ said Steven J. Toll, a partner at the firm. “But as we always like to say, we really prefer to win on the merits.’’