Conflicts.

The Florida Bar once prohibited lawyer-legislators from working at law firms that lobby the Legislature (Ethics Opinions 5931 and 67-5). The opinions stated it created an "inescapable conflict of interest." It was true then and is true today.

I served 12 years in the Florida Legislature, and I know that the conflict is unpreventable.

Lawyers have a fiduciary duty to their firm's clients which conflicts with their duty to the public.

In 1999, the Board of Governors, contrary to the recommendation of the Professional Ethics Committee, repealed the prohibition under pressure from lobbying law firms.

At the beginning of this year, the Legislature was flooded with lawyers working for lobbying firms including the president of the Senate and speaker of the House. It would be imprudent for any entity, with an interest in passing or killing legislation, not to hire a law firm with a member in the Legislature.

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