Lawyer-lobbyists need permission to disclose their clients.

Lawyers who lobby the Florida Legislature likely will need permission from their clients to identify both the clients and the specific issue they are lobbying in order to follow new House lobbying rules and comply with Bar ethical rules.

Under recent rules unveiled by House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O' Lakes, lobbyists "may not lobby the House for any purpose ... unless the lobbyist has filed a House appearance record with the Public Integrity and Ethics Committee identifying the specific matter and each principal represented thereon."

Bar Ethics Counsel Elizabeth Tarbert said, under Bar Rule 4-1.6, all information related to a representation is considered confidential with limited exceptions that may not apply in the legislative arena. The advice for lawyers who want to lobby and follow both the House and Bar rules, she said, is to get permission from the clients to identify them and the specific issues the clients are hiring the lawyer to lobby when the lawyer appears before a committee or meets with House members.

"If you're going to follow the House rules, you have to make sure your clients understand the House rules require you to disclose who they are and what you're lobbying for," Tarbert said. "You should make that clear and get consent up front."

There's already precedent for how attorneys must act. Tarbert noted in 2005 the Legislature passed a law requiring lobbyists to file quarterly reports revealing their clients' "main business" and how much they were being paid by each client for lobbying activities.

That law also provided for random audits of lobbying firms to confirm compliance.

At that time, Tarbert noted, the Bar advised lawyers who lobbied that they must get consent from clients to reveal compensation or decline the representation. They must withdraw from representing current clients if they refused to allow the disclosure.

The revised disclosure provisions are included in the new House rules that set stricter lobbying standards, including banning any electronic contact (such as texts, emails, or phone calls) between lobbyists and representatives during House sessions and committee or subcommittee meetings.

Here's a question-and-answer advice column prepared to deal with the 2005 law, and updated to address the new House rules:

Q: If I am a lawyer who engages in lobbying, do the Rules of Professional Conduct (Chapter 4) in the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar apply to the lobbying activity?

A: In almost all...