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Governor Chris Christie and Jeff Chiesa in a 2013 file photo.

(Tony Kurdzuk/NJ Advance Media)

TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie's longtime friend, former U.S. Sen. Jeff Chiesa, will be paid $400 an hour to oversee the state takeover of Atlantic City, the state's Office of the Attorney General announced Thursday night.

Chiesa was given "wide-ranging authority" in the state's controversial effort to keep the seaside gambling resort from falling into bankruptcy. Christie's administration appointed him to the role last month.

A month after his appointment, the attorney general's office released the details of how Chiesa and members of his law firm -- Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi -- will be paid.

Senior partners will bill the state $400 an hour for their work, $350 an hour will be billed by partners, $240 an hour by associates and $90 an hour by paralegals, according to the pay scale in the retention agreement with the firm.

Chiesa worked with Christie at the U.S. Attorney's Office prior to joining the governor's gubernatorial staff in 2009 as his chief counsel. Later, Christie appointed him to be the state's attorney general and then as the state's junior U.S. senator after the death of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

Fee scales between private law firms and the state are often predetermined. In most of those cases, the state pays partners and associates at firms $150 an hour, according to state Request for Qualification forms. In general litigation cases, partners tapped as outside counsel earn $200 an hour, while associates receive $150 and law assistants can earn $125 an hour.

But in special circumstances, such as cases deemed "complex litigation," fee scales are negotiated between the attorney general and the law firm.

In this case, the fee scale was negotiated under Attorney General Christopher Porrino. Porrino, who Chiesa hired to lead the attorney general office's Division of Law in 2012 when Chiesa was attorney general, is another Christie friend who also once served as the governor's chief counsel.

When Porrino was appointed attorney general in June, Chiesa told NJ Advance Media he thought "he's one of the best lawyers I've ever worked with."

Chiesa said last month he will "work hand in hand" with local leaders to "put Atlantic City back on a path to fiscal stability."

"The simple fact is Atlantic City cannot afford to function the way it has in the past," he added. "It is my hope to work together with firm conviction and not disrupt the democratic process."

In early November, officials voted to approve a five-year state takeover of the local government in the seaside gambling resort. Under the law, the man put in charge was Timothy Cunningham, director of the Division of Local Government Services in the community affairs department.

Cunningham said at the time he had not decided whether he or a designee will oversee the day-to-day operations in the city.

The Christie administration announced in short time that Chiesa would take the reins. A day after the announcement, the governor referred to Chiesa as "an outstanding person who cares about getting Atlantic City back on track."

Chiesa has worked alongside Christie in various positions throughout the last 25 years.

After leaving the Senate, Chiesa returned to one of his old law firms, Wolff & Samson, which was co-founded by David Samson, a longtime Christie adviser and former Port Authority chairman who pleaded guilty in July to coercing United Airlines to create a regularly scheduled, non-stop flight to his South Carolina summer home.

Samson stepped down from the firm amid the investigation last year, and it rebranded itself as Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi. The firm received $426,000 for work it did for the state in 2015.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook.