burnspbesq @125

Yes, a lawyer representing a client as an advocate before an administrative or legislative body owes that body the same basic duties as the lawyer owes a court.

No disagreement.

But if I’ve got a lobbyist hat on and am not purporting to be or in fact acting as a lawyer in my representation of some third party, I am not practicing law.

Once again, I’m required to be honest and avoid conflicts of interest, but I can promote my client’s lawful use of pestcides, for example, as vigorously as I’m able.

Besides, lots of what’s ethical for a lawyer to do is, ethics aside, is plain rotten.

Example: The lawyer who represents a hospital in a debt-collection effort against a single mother of 3, afflicted with cancer, working as a checkout clerk, unable to pay her hospital bill.

In this actual situation I witnessed many years ago, the lawyer, who was clearly within the bounds of ethics and law, drove the woman to despair and basically ruined what was left of her life. All to help the hospital collect a few hundred dollars.

Fred Thompson may be an ethical lawyer.

He also may be sleazy, either as a practicing lawyer (which I’m not positing) or as a lobbyist (which I’ll leave to others).

Again, thank you, Jonathan.

Yes, he looked reallly frail. His skin looks paper-thin.

Unlike his son, Poppy was the real deal, a first class button-pusher.

The CIA named its HQ after him.

It’s always a huge, ironic laugh to see the sign “George Bush Center for Intelligence.”

As if.

Special shout to Odd A. Mommy and Redshift; it was a pleasure meeting you. I enjoyed the flesh & bones versions as well or better than the virtual ones.

Also to MauiMom, I’m so sorry we missed you. I wandered the front of Old Ebbitt from 4:45 til 5:20 looking for folk. We probably bumped each other without knowing it. :(

jb

Sorry to miss everyone. I thought the time was 5 pm, so stayed from then ’til 5:30. Only today did it occur to me that maybe correct time was 5:30 (such that leaving @ 5:30 was not a swift idea).

But I was feeling kinda weird sitting at the bar nursing a drink and looking over my shoulder for “strange” people. ;-)

Guess this means we’ll have to schedule again — with cell phone #’s next time.

Excuse me if I take a moment to drown that little meme in the bathtub…

“lobbying doesn’t have to be a dishonorable profession”

Actually it pretty much does, because it is based on political voice being associated with the existence of resources to support a position.

The entire lobbying system is ethically corrupt to the core, and EVERYONE who engages in it is autosliming themselves… including ME when I did it on behalf of my humble nonprofit organization.

But nothing I did in calling and talking to a Congressional aide remotely compares to the inherent corruption of highly paid professionals devoting their time to bending the minds of representatives in favor of their favored interests.

What politicians should do is listen to every voice equally, regardless of how much money is behind that voice.

The lobbying system is DESIGNED to make sure that doesn’t happen. Lobbyists are committed to making sure that doesn’t happen.

Some will argue for legalistic/formalistic ethics, and say “as long as it is legal, it is ethical”, but I would hope that most of us have a deeper sense of political ethics than that.

Lobbying is corruption of one vote/ one voice / one person democracy. Ethical lobbying indeed! T’aint no such thing, and don’t tell me otherwise. Washington is an entire city committed to advancing the proposition that what goes on in DC is “normal”, “ethical” and “right.”

Anyone who stands just a little outside of it understands that it is an undemocratic and unethical den of thieves, with lobbyists for the various moneyed interests serving as its standing army, opposing each other on details but united in their belief in their own ethics and their own importance.

Harumph.