Topeka ? The private law firm defending the state in the school finance lawsuit has dropped out of the case.

Lathrop & Gage filed motions to withdraw as counsel of record for the state in the lawsuit in both federal court and before the Kansas Supreme Court.

The law firm said its contract with the office of Atty. Gen. Phill Kline had expired July 1.

Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, and an attorney with Lathrop & Gage, said partners in the firm on the case “just thought it was a good time to move on to other things.”

The school finance lawsuit is pending before the state Supreme Court. No action has occurred in a similar case in federal court for several years.

In 2005, the Kansas Supreme Court declared the state’s method of funding schools unconstitutional because it shortchanged all students, especially those in low-income areas.

The Legislature adopted a $290 million increase last year, and a three-year $466 million plan this year. The court heard arguments on that last plan in June and is expected to render a decision soon.

“Like Lathrop & Gage, the attorney general’s office believes that the school finance litigation is winding down, and that a decision from the Kansas Supreme Court will come soon,” said Jan Lunsford, a spokesman for Kline.

“Since the fiscal year ended in June, we thought it was best that we have a ruling in the case before renewing or issuing any new contracts involving the current school finance litigation,” he said.

In 2005, Lathrop & Gage was paid approximately $177,800 for its work in the school finance litigation, according to the Attorney General’s Office. A total amount of how much the firm has been paid during the lawsuit was not available from the office.

Lathrop & Gage raised some eyebrows in the Statehouse last year when it used the school finance lawsuit to market itself despite the state having lost the case.

On its Web site, the firm said it successfully defended the state against the charge that the school finance system violated the Equal Protection clause of the Kansas Constitution. But it made no mention that the court found the school finance system unconstitutional and ordered the Legislature to increase funding, which resulted in Kansas’ first special legislative session in 16 years.