FSU wants no part of this fight
Lobbyists try to hire a lawyer from FSU to sue the Legislature, but the school's president says no, "is there a good Gator" to do it?
By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published January 24, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - For all the noise about Florida's new ban on lobbyists buying legislators meals, what lobbyists are most angry about is having to reveal their fees and who's paying them.
They plan to sue over that provision, which went into effect as part of the gift ban law on Jan. 1, and thought they had the ideal lawyer. He's Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte, a former American Bar Association president and a former state legislator who teaches law at Florida State University, where he also served as president.
"A whole group of us thought the prestige that he has over at the Supreme Court would be perfect," said Guy Spearman, a lobbyist and FSU alumnus.
But in a capital where connections can trump everything, lobbyists discovered the limits of their clout. They can't hire D'Alemberte because, essentially, he's too well-connected.
FSU refused to let him take the case because they fear his role could antagonize the lawmakers who must approve FSU's budget.
"Generally, we don't like to sue the Legislature unless there's a pretty important issue at stake," said FSU president T.K. Wetherell, D'Alemberte's successor, and a former House speaker known for his political shrewdness.
When FSU provost Larry Abele learned that D'Alemberte was interested in helping lobbyists turn back what the Legislature sees as an ethics breakthrough, Abele e-mailed the professor.
"I must ask you not to do so," Abele wrote last week. "The university has many projects before the Legislature right now."
Wetherell, characteristically, was more blunt.
"It will hurt FSU," Wetherell wrote in a Jan. 17 e-mail to Spearman, an FSU booster. "Please find another attorney. This case isn't that complicated. A first year FSU law student could win it in his/her sleep."
In yet another e-mail, Wetherell wrote from a hand-held e-mail device: "Is there a good Gator that can do this? ... Tell (University of Florida president Bernie) Machen, it is his turn to challenge the establishment."
Under Florida law, e-mail messages to and from public officials are public records.
In an interview, Wetherell said D'Alemberte is so prominent that his role in the case could give rise to the perception that FSU opposes what the Legislature did. He also cited a policy requiring FSU employees to receive approval for any outside activities.
D'Alemberte, a courtly legal scholar known for his bow ties, said that was news to him.
"If it is, nobody's told me that," D'Alemberte said. "My understanding is, university policy allows me to take on outside employment so long as I perform my university duties."
The lawyer said he never asked permission to represent Wilton Dedge, the man wrongly convicted of rape who was seeking compensation from the Legislature for his 22 years in prison. D'Alemberte persuaded lawmakers to pay Dedge $2-million.
D'Alemberte said he was not angry or disappointed by the school's action in the lobby case.
Members of the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists have raised more than $90,000 to pay in legal fees in an effort to overturn the fee-disclosure provision in the law.
Unable to hire D'Alemberte, they are considering turning to lawyer Mark Herron, an expert at Florida's ethics and financial disclosure laws.
Herron graduated from FSU.
--Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.