Schneiderman on the Difficulty of Cuomo-Style Lawyer-Legislator Disclosure
Capital New York, February 18, 2015
Schneiderman on the Difficulty of Cuomo-Style Lawyer-Legislator Disclosure
While there have long been questions about the potentially corrupting influence of outside income, state law does not require lawyer-legislators like Silver to list their clients. Cuomo, a Democrat, has in recent speeches been calling for ‘total disclosure’ of all clients, the fees they provide and the nature of the work performed by legislators. But Schneiderman, who practiced law briefly while he was a senator, said there would need to be some exceptions in certain cases….Good-government groups point to a 2010 report by the New York City Bar Association, which said disclosing the names of clients would not violate attorney-client privilege. That report envisioned the creation of a special commission to consider applications for exceptions, noting that similar systems exist in California and Washington.