Georgia speaker addresses ‘Legislative Leave’

I have been practicing law, principally within the same judicial circuits for nearly 39 years. As a sole practitioner, we are also a general, versus specialized practice, taking on clients of all types.

Over the past two years, the firm handled and completed 23 cases including jury trials, within the same judicial circuit where 21 other clients had their cases continued or court appearances rescheduled. As a defense attorney, I have absolutely no control over judicial calendars and dockets, and only limited control of my own calendar. Thanks to a longtime practice and Georgia statute, I can and do notify prosecutors and judges if my legislative duties and calendar are in conflict with appearance requests or court dockets.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently has reported that my firm requested 57 calendar conflict continuances over the past two years, involving the cases of 21 of my clients. Attorney-client privilege prohibits me from further discussion of the details on any pending client or case.

The law I reference, most commonly being referred to as Legislative Leave, has been on the books for more than a century. In 2006, the law was expanded to include nonlegislative session dates and level the playing field among all professions, not only for the practice of law. I was named as a House-Senate conferee on this bill on the last day of that legislative session by the immediate prior speaker.

These actions on behalf of my clients were not illegal, immoral or unethical. The calendar conflicts were real, but understandably so are the concerns of many fair-minded Georgians, not aware of all the facts at hand.

So let me be very clear on several key points, not made or visited in news stories to date.

■ 1. Not all of the continuances which occurred were requested by me or my law firm.

■ 2. Not one judge or prosecutor, in the two judicial circuits involved, has ever raised issue with my requests for legislative leave.

■ 3. Court calendars in these districts are prioritized in criminal felony cases. Defendants in custody move to the front of the line. Clients on bond-bail roll forward on the calendar. Calendar delays in these cases were not only caused by continuance requests.

■ 4. While 21 cases remain in process, with two of the most visible scheduled for trial in May or June of 2019 after the current legislative session, 23 cases were disposed of completely during the same time period.

I am also mindful that perception can become reality, and there are many concerned about the rights of several of the alleged victims of a few of my clients. Make no mistake, these are serious criminal cases.

So, as with most any other statute, we must weigh the costs versus the benefits. That is why I am appointing a bipartisan Advisory Group to review our existing legislative leave law, researching and comparing with the practices of other part-time legislatures in other states. This group will include legislators, judges (current and retired), prosecutors, other members of the legal community and citizens to make recommendations and likely revise Georgia’s statute.

And, though my criminal defense work predates my election to my current position by more than 30 years, I will accept no new criminal clients until the four most visible and disputed cases have been resolved by the courts. I can also categorically state, without fear of contradiction, that I have never discussed the application of Legislative Leave with a single prospective or current client.

At the end of the day, all we really have is our good name and reputation. I could not let the partial telling of this story go unanswered. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that during my tenure the Georgia House has taken the lead on many issues to protect victims of crime. We recently expanded funding and personnel at the GBI Crime Lab to process a backlog of thousands of rape kits. That work led to the identification, arrest and prosecution of several serial rapists, and the completion/closure of multiple “cold cases.”

I also wanted the voters in my district, my colleagues in the state House and the people of Georgia to have access to a more complete telling of the facts. And now they have the rest of the story.

We still have work to do this legislative session, and once that is over, I will immediately get back to lawyering.

May God bless our people and the great state of Georgia.