Politics & Government

GAB Says Robin Vos Not Violating Ethics Code

Representative Robin Vos, author of a bill for limiting attorney fees, is not doing anything wrong even though he may now or in the future benefit from the new law.

The Government Accountability Board has issued their opinion about whether or not Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester) violated any ethics code related to a bill he authored.

Senate Bill 12 would limit attorney fees to no more than three times the plaintiff's damage award. pending involving a student to whom he rented an apartment in Whitewater. That student paid $2,175 for their share of the security deposit and fall rent, and the representing attorney is requesting $20,000 for costs and fees. Under this new law, those fees would be capped at $6,525.

In part, the GAB states, "Even if Special Session Senate Bill 12 applied to your lawsuit, or to future litigation in which you were involved, it is our opinion that the Ethics Code does not prohibit you from participating in the debates or votes pertaining to the bill."

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Further, the GAB says that because Vos is part of a larger group, the legislative body, and the bill applies to such a large group of people and/or businesses, he is not committing any ethics code violations:

As applied to your question, it appears that the proposed bill is certainly a legislative decision and that it would affect not only all landlords in the State, but all other individuals and businesses which may become party to a variety of different legal actions.  In addition, your presence in the class is not significant when compared to the number of similarly situated people who might be affected, and the effect on you is not significantly different than on other members of the class.  In other words, the bill is not one that affects, for instance, only ten property owners, with you or your business owning the largest property that would be affected.

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Vos released the following statement about the complaint and the GAB's decision, “The Government Accountability Board has communicated to my office that there are no ethical concerns regarding my involvement with Special Session Senate Bill 12.  I look forward to its final passage later today in the Assembly.  The legislation gives judges in future cases the necessary guidelines but also the flexibility to determine the reasonableness of attorney fees.”


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