Trial lawyers may soon face a day of reckoning, at least in Tallahassee, just as the Florida Justice Association loses one of its most active lobbyists.
With the new legislative session around the corner, the FJA failed to reach a deal this week with Albert Balido, founding partner of Anfield Consultants. Balido, known as the go-to lobbyist for all things water in Florida, represented the association for more than 15 years.
“As a past president,” Balido said in a Dec. 15 email to former FJA head Tom Edwards, “I wanted to reach out to let you know that our firm will no longer be representing the FJA.
“It was our and FJA’s mutual desire to continue our relationship; however we could not come to a final agreement for 2015.”
SaintPetersBlog recognized Anfield Consultants as a legislative winner for 2014, after the firm successfully secured funding for a range of public and private sector clients, and advancing initiatives such as environmental protection through its work with Florida Water Advocates.
Balido’s abrupt exit closely follows another high-profile loss at the FJA, when political strategist Ryan Wiggins of Full Contact Strategies left earlier this year.
Departures of Balido and Wiggins may prove problematic for the FJA down the road, especially in 2015. The association will need a strong team to overcome the wall of resistance sure to come from the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature.
In 2014, the FJA suffered a couple of prominent setbacks, both of which are sure to do little to boost its stature in the eyes of Republican lawmakers.
One matter was FJA support of Amendment 2, the Constitutional measure to legalize medical marijuana, spearheaded by Orlando trial attorney John Morgan. Amendment 2 failed to reach the 60 percent voter approval needed to pass, mainly because of its staunch unpopularity among state Republicans.
As prominent backers of Amendment 2, the FJA will certainly not be met with open arms in the Capitol come March.
Then there was the dedication to former Republican Charlie Crist, who lost to Gov. Rick Scott in November.
As a trial attorney, Crist’s fellow lawyers lined up to back his run for governor as a Democrat. His highly touted party switch left many in the Republican establishment cold, and the FJA could suffer by proxy.
Not to mention the handful of GOP primaries in which the FJA unsuccessfully played.
Undoubtedly, these failures will prove to be significant obstacles for the FJA in advancing its 2015 legislative agenda, something compounded by the loss of Balido – a spirited advocate responsible for a host of successful legislation last session.
The shakeup may not be quite over yet, raising questions over the future of remaining names on the FJA lobbying team, such as political operations director Kevin Sweeny.
