Thursday, February 19, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JANE ANN MORRISON: Some public servants avoid conflicts while others choose to ignore them

In years gone by, attorneys who entered public life figured any resulting loss of billable hours to their law firms might be counterbalanced by new business generated by having a powerful official on the letterhead.

Of course, those were days when state laws governing conflicts of interest, disclosures and abstentions were less stringent.

Today's lawyers who are lawmakers and regulators often find their public duties can hamstring their work duties. Conflicts between public and private responsibilities can restrict them from voting on critical public issues, reduce their billable hours, and even limit other partners from practicing.

Three Clark County lawyers recently made job changes in an effort to have fewer conflicts between their public duties and their job responsibilities.

Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard and Clark County Commissioner Mark James joined Bullivant Houser Bailey, a large firm based in Portland, Ore.

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson left his longtime law firm of Rooker Gibson & Later to become the chairman and CEO of Transit Systems Management, the company which manages the Las Vegas Monorail.

Gibson, a Democrat who may be running for governor in 2006, said he left his small firm of six lawyers because "it's increasingly difficult to meet the demands of an active law practice, all the way from being responsible for billing regular hours to making certain all the client needs are served. Public life is really an impediment."

His position as mayor meant that he and his partners no longer could represent clients with business with the city of Henderson and the boards he sits on.

Like Bernhard and James, he knew ahead of time that he would have to surrender some clients and knew it would be a "significant sacrifice to have me serving in public life."

What Gibson said he didn't fully realize was how overwhelming it would become to do the mayor's job and give the time required to handle the responsibilities of his day job.

Gibson said the mayor's job easily could be full-time, but he tries to limit it to 100 hours a month. At his law firm, he aimed for 160 hours a month in billable hours.

Bernhard spends 40 to 60 hours a month on gaming regulation.

James estimated he spends more than 100 hours a month on county commission work and another 100 hours practicing law.

Bullivant Houser Bailey has 185 lawyers in Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada, including six in Las Vegas. James' father-in-law is a member.

"It's a business litigation firm without gaming clients," said Bernhard, former Nevada Ethics Commission chairman, who steps carefully to avoid ethical potholes.

His former law firm lost two partners because they needed to do gaming work and couldn't practice before the Gaming Commission because of his position, Bernhard said.

"This helps us practice law and be better public officials," James said.

Gibson, Bernhard and James all decided to take jobs where there would be fewer abstentions on their part and fewer occasions where they couldn't do what they were elected or appointed to do, which is vote.

The three are a refreshing change from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who vehemently insists he did nothing wrong when he went to Washington, D.C., on the taxpayers' dime to attend the Conference of Mayors, and passed out invitations to draw potential customers to a business owned by his son, Ross, and Councilman Michael Mack.

Goodman doesn't see that he has a conflict, and it's more than likely the Nevada Ethics Commission will tell him he violated ethics laws, which prohibit him from using his official job to benefit his son and Mack.

Goodman's defense: "If anybody tells me I can't help my son, who I love, they can drop dead."

From my moldy grave, I'd like to point out that I, too, love my family. If I used this space to drum up business for them, I should be fired. It's a real easy call.

Conflicts are inevitable, so it's encouraging that Bernhard, James and Gibson are pro-actively seeking to avoid unnecessary conflicts, even if Goodman doesn't.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.