Politics
Bill Aims to Close Revolving Door Between AG, Probed Companies
Idea is, quit AG's office and you won't be able to work for a firm under investigation
Around the State
A trio of Democratic state lawmakers say they'll file legislation to prevent lawyers who leave the attorney general's office or certain other agencies from going to work for a company that had been under investigation while they were there.
The move is in response to one former lawyer in the attorney general's office having done that, but there are at least two other lawyers who worked for the office who also worked for some of the foreclosure-related law firms and services companies that have been under investigation by the state.
Last year, then-Attorney General Bill McCollum's office launched a probe into several law firms that were accused of foreclosure fraud, and the mortgage services company Lender Processing Services.
Besides Lender Processing Services, also known as LPS, other firms that were targeted included the Fort Lauderdale law firm of Marshall Watson, which has since settled with the state; Tampa-based Shapiro & Fishman; and Florida Default Law Group.
In May, Joe Jacquot, who had worked on McCollum's leadership team, left the AG's office, now headed by new Attorney General Pam Bondi, and went to work for Lender Processing Services as a vice president of government affairs.
The bill was written primarily because of press reports about Jacquot, but he isn't the only lawyer who has made such a move.
In June, Mary Leontakianakos, who had headed up the economic crimes division under McCollum that oversaw the mortgage probe and left in January with the change in administrations, took a job with Marshall Watson.
Leontakianakos, who had worked in the AG's office since 1992, had even been quoted in news reports when McCollum's office announced it was going after Marshall Watson.
And back in April, Bondi fired an assistant attorney general named Erin Cullaro, who also worked in the economic crimes unit and had previously worked for another of the firms the office investigated, Florida Default Law Group.
Cullaro had struck an arrangement with McCollum's office under which she was allowed to continue to do some outside work notarizing law firm documents for the mortgage law firm – at the same time she was working for the state. That came under scrutiny in 2010 after one foreclosure lawsuit alleged Cullaro had a conflict of interest in working for a foreclosure firm around the same time her government office started investigating her private employer.
McCollum asked last year for an inspector general to look into that arrangement, and eventually Cullaro was fired by Bondi, though a lawyer for Cullaro has said she did nothing wrong.
"People should not be going to work for these firms," when they leave the employ of the state, Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, said Wednesday.
The legislation, which will be co-sponsored by House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West, and has been sent to bill drafting, would prevent employees at state agencies with investigatory or regulatory functions from working for any individual or organization that is the subject of a civil or criminal investigation as long as it is ongoing and for two years after that.
"It is bad policy for the integrity of the investigation, and the perception," Soto said Wednesday in an interview.
Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, has said she will sponsor the legislation in the Senate.
Soto said the legislation wasn't meant to embarrass Bondi, who has come under fire for the firing of two other lawyers who had worked on foreclosure cases amid allegations the AG's office isn't being tough enough on "foreclosure mills," allegations her office vehemently denies.
Bondi had no say over where lawyers in her office went after they left, Soto acknowledged.
"None of us has alleged she had any power to stop it, which is exactly why we need the law," said Soto, adding he hoped Bondi would support the bill.
A spokeswoman for Bondi said that while the attorney general "already demands the highest ethical standards in our employees, we look forward to reviewing any suggestions for strengthening our state's ethics laws."
The move is in response to one former lawyer in the attorney general's office having done that, but there are at least two other lawyers who worked for the office who also worked for some of the foreclosure-related law firms and services companies that have been under investigation by the state.
Last year, then-Attorney General Bill McCollum's office launched a probe into several law firms that were accused of foreclosure fraud, and the mortgage services company Lender Processing Services.
Besides Lender Processing Services, also known as LPS, other firms that were targeted included the Fort Lauderdale law firm of Marshall Watson, which has since settled with the state; Tampa-based Shapiro & Fishman; and Florida Default Law Group.
In May, Joe Jacquot, who had worked on McCollum's leadership team, left the AG's office, now headed by new Attorney General Pam Bondi, and went to work for Lender Processing Services as a vice president of government affairs.
The bill was written primarily because of press reports about Jacquot, but he isn't the only lawyer who has made such a move.
In June, Mary Leontakianakos, who had headed up the economic crimes division under McCollum that oversaw the mortgage probe and left in January with the change in administrations, took a job with Marshall Watson.
Leontakianakos, who had worked in the AG's office since 1992, had even been quoted in news reports when McCollum's office announced it was going after Marshall Watson.
And back in April, Bondi fired an assistant attorney general named Erin Cullaro, who also worked in the economic crimes unit and had previously worked for another of the firms the office investigated, Florida Default Law Group.
Cullaro had struck an arrangement with McCollum's office under which she was allowed to continue to do some outside work notarizing law firm documents for the mortgage law firm – at the same time she was working for the state. That came under scrutiny in 2010 after one foreclosure lawsuit alleged Cullaro had a conflict of interest in working for a foreclosure firm around the same time her government office started investigating her private employer.
McCollum asked last year for an inspector general to look into that arrangement, and eventually Cullaro was fired by Bondi, though a lawyer for Cullaro has said she did nothing wrong.
"People should not be going to work for these firms," when they leave the employ of the state, Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, said Wednesday.
The legislation, which will be co-sponsored by House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West, and has been sent to bill drafting, would prevent employees at state agencies with investigatory or regulatory functions from working for any individual or organization that is the subject of a civil or criminal investigation as long as it is ongoing and for two years after that.
"It is bad policy for the integrity of the investigation, and the perception," Soto said Wednesday in an interview.
Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, has said she will sponsor the legislation in the Senate.
Soto said the legislation wasn't meant to embarrass Bondi, who has come under fire for the firing of two other lawyers who had worked on foreclosure cases amid allegations the AG's office isn't being tough enough on "foreclosure mills," allegations her office vehemently denies.
Bondi had no say over where lawyers in her office went after they left, Soto acknowledged.
"None of us has alleged she had any power to stop it, which is exactly why we need the law," said Soto, adding he hoped Bondi would support the bill.
A spokeswoman for Bondi said that while the attorney general "already demands the highest ethical standards in our employees, we look forward to reviewing any suggestions for strengthening our state's ethics laws."
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