“I appreciate Judge Gallen raising these issues but they’ve been addressed in multiple ways under Florida law and under current existing legislative rules,” said Garry Lesser, a West Palm Beach attorney who made the motion to take no action on Gallen’s request.
Gallen sees it differently. He served in the Legislature from 1966 to 1978 and knows from experience that there are many ways to kill legislation or help it advance without actually voting on it.
Lawmakers regularly work to convince each other behind the scenes. Committee leaders can kill legislation simply by not bringing it up for a vote.
“I was rules chairman,” Gallen said, referring to his former position leading one of the House’s most powerful committees. “I made the decisions over which bills were heard and which bills were not. If my law firm was lobbying, what a conflict I would’ve had. I think it’s unconscionable.”
Gallen called the Bar committee’s decision not to recommend reinstating the ethics opinion “terribly disappointing.” He speculated that the Bar’s leadership might not want to upset lawmakers. The organization has a strong interest in many legal issues that come before the Legislature, such as Corcoran’s push to place term limits on judges.
