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Big money

Working for a big law firm that lobbies can be very lucrative for a legislator.

Rubio never made more than $96,000 as a lawyer until 2004, the year after fellow legislators chose him to be speaker for the 2007 and 2008 sessions.

The House speaker is one of the three most powerful positions in state government. Soon after he secured the spot, Rubio took a job making $300,000 per year at Broad & Cassel, a politically connected statewide firm that now employs Corcoran. The firm has a small legislative lobbying practice but also represents a range of clients with issues tied to state government.

Corcoran, who served as Rubio's chief of staff when Rubio was speaker, once had his own firm, Corcoran Law Firm, P.A. In 2010, the year he was elected to the House, Corcoran made $95,000 at his firm. He subsequently landed a job at Broad & Cassel, which paid him $175,000 in 2015.

Negron won a seat in the state House in 2000. He earned $140,318 that year working for a law firm in his hometown of Stuart. In 2001 — his first full year as a state lawmaker — Negron's salary at the firm dipped to $84,344. Later, he landed a job with a large statewide firm that does lobbying, and then moved on to another statewide firm with a legislative lobbying practice.

Negron earned $225,952 in 2015 from the Gunster law firm, which employed six lobbyists in Tallahassee last year who collected between $850,000 and $1.75 million in combined fees.

Moving to a large lobbying firm has not been quite as lucrative for Steube, who earned $80,064 in 2009 dividing his time between two smaller firms. Steube won a seat in the state House in 2010 and went to work for Becker Poliakoff a few years later. The firm paid him $102,500 in 2015.

Steube said he sought a job at Becker on the advice of a Tallahassee acquaintance who saw him "struggling" to do his job as a lawmaker while also logging enough billable hours to make a living.

Most law firms have an "eat what you kill" payment structure in which lawyers are paid based on how many hours of work they perform for their clients, Steube noted.

Because of his legislative duties, Steube said he does not have the time to do traditional legal work.

Becker offered Steube a more flexible arrangement. Steube does not have to reach a set quota of billable hours. Instead, the firm pays him a retainer to act as a rainmaker who brings in clients and refers them to other lawyers.

"Obviously, you have relationships because you're in the Legislature," Steube said, adding: "It's easy to develop relationships and then bring them in as clients to the firm."