Lawyer with state attorneys general practice didn't violate lobbying law, ethics commission finds
A Dickstein Shapiro partner, who without being registered as a lobbyist allegedly sought favorable attention from the Florida attorney general on his clients’ behalf, did not violate Florida’s lobbying laws, the state ethics commission found.
Bernard Nash—now a partner at Cozen O’Connor following the demise of Dickstein Shapiro—told Florida investigators that he gave “proactive counsel” to his clients, the New York Times reports. According to the article, corporations hire lawyers like Nash, who is based in Washington, D.C., in hopes that they can prevent or shut down investigations against them.
Dickstein Shapiro lawyers donated money to the Republican Attorneys General Association, which reportedly covered costs for Pam Bondi, Florida’s attorney general, to attend national conferences. The firm also made donations to Bondi’s political campaign accounts, and a series of New York Times articles reported that Nash and Dickstein Shapiro tried to help her on a national level with the Republican Party.
Nash’s work couldn’t be formally defined as lobbying, an outside lawyer advising the commission found, and it couldn’t be proved that Bondi accepted free dinners, or other benefits, directly from Dickstein Shapiro lawyers. George T. Reeves, the commission’s outside counsel, did say that it may have been better for Nash to register “as a lobbyist and then freely advocate for his client.”
According to the Cozen O’Connor website, Nash co-chairs the firm’s state attorneys general practice, and he’s “settled AG investigations and litigations with all 50 states.”
Neither Nash nor Bondi responded to ABA Journal interview requests at press time.
