Any contract under which Legal Services are provided by a private law firm or an attorney or paraprofessional who is not employed by the system, regardless of the amount of Legal Services provided in relation to other services, will be deemed an Outside Counsel Contract (OCC). All requests to retain outside counsel shall be submitted in writing to the Office of General Counsel (OGC). All Outside Counsel Contracts shall be prepared by the OGC and submitted by the OGC to the Office of Attorney General (OAG) for approval. State agencies may not initiate the process of selecting outside counsel to be paid with appropriated funds prior to receiving the approval of the Office of Attorney General. No outside counsel may be retained without the prior written approval of the Office of the Attorney General. Payment for legal services rendered by outside counsel shall be in accordance with the approved Outside Counsel Contract.