It shouldn’t be surprising that more law firms in the capital are beefing up their lobbying practices.
"As lawyers, we have a deeper understanding of the laws, as they exist and which changes to them will work," says Hayden Dempsey, a lawyer-lobbyist with Greenberg Traurig in Tallahassee.
He should know. Dempsey has worked for four governors, most recently as special counsel to Gov. Rick Scott.
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When lawyer Fred Baggett combined his Tallahassee lobbying/law firm with Greenberg Traurig in 1991, the firm’s founders made clear, they were "now one firm."
Even though that new enterprise at first was like serving, say, collards in fatback on top of key lime pie.
"We were good ol’ boys in Tallahassee and they were the South Florida lawyers, and the legal and political community in Tallahassee scratched their heads: ‘What the devil are you guys doing?’ " recalls Baggett, now the managing shareholder in Tallahassee.
"We did litigation, contracts, and our lobbying, but most of our work related to government in one way or another," he says of his old firm, Roberts, Baggett, LaFace and Richard.
Greenberg, he says, "did not have the resources to deal with Tallahassee. They came up to see us and said ‘this is not our town.’ We merged the firms and we were their first office outside South Florida."
The combination worked, and Greenberg Traurig since then has exploded to 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices on three continents. And its capital lobbying practice, with Baggett still at the helm, is steaming on.
The combination worked, and Greenberg Traurig since then has exploded to 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices on three continents. And its capital lobbying practice, with Baggett still at the helm, is steaming on.
In recent years, Greenberg has made marquee hires, including veteran insurance lawyer-lobbyist Fred Karlinsky and Liz Dudek, former secretary of the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration.
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When Liz Dudek retired in November as secretary of Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, she was immediately able to join Greenberg Traurig’s lobbying practice as director of Healthcare Affairs.
State law normally bans lobbying by former state agency employees for two years after they leave. Dudek was able to bypass the lobbying ban because it exempts those hired before 1989; Dudek first starting working for the state in late 1974.
No wonder Fred Baggett, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Tallahassee office, was "thrilled" to be able to add her to his team.
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Gus Corbella, the firm’s senior director of the Government Law and Policy practice in Tallahassee, often talks about having "a platform and a network," as do his colleagues. Corbella, who is not a lawyer, uses the example of getting "an email from someone in the firm that’s having a client issue in Thailand."
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