Scott Powers
Orlando lawyer and Republican fundraiser Ben Newman also is known — sadly not to all — as a merry prankster and over the weekend had many believing he was leaving the powerful GrayRobinson law firm to run a burrito truck.
Me among them. Sorry about that.
Newman has left GrayRobinson, where he’s been a shareholder for seven years, but not to feed the hungry masses yearning for queso, he said Monday morning. Instead, he’s moving on to a national law firm, Wilson Elser, and thinking about running for office.
“Sorry about that,” he told FloridaPolitics.com, politely but not entirely suppressing a well-deserved laugh.
FloridaPolitics and OrlandoRising — I — bought Newman’s trail of posts on Facebook declaring he was quitting law to pursue his lifelong dream of running a food truck. Among other things (Photoshopping a picture of a food truck with his name on it), he changed his status to CBO (Chief Burrito Officer) at El Queso Loco Burrito Company.
My texts and calls to Newman before I wrote went unanswered early Monday, apparently because the numbers I had were old and out of date (his GrayRobinson numbers;) and while they still recorded messages they did so for someone who wasn’t around anymore to retrieve them. I also Facebook messaged him, but that was too late. Turned out I also had a private, valid email address available for him. But in a full disclosure of incompetence, I didn’t come across that until too late, and went ahead and wrote before I had his or anyone else’s confirmation.
Full mud bath for my face, please.
After being alerted that I fell for his prank, Newman called to set the record straight, pointing out that he loves pranks, and a lot of people know that, though he’d left no clues this time. He was leaving GrayRobinson and decided to “goof,” he said.
“Rather than be serious all the time, I thought I’d have a little bit of fun. I’m just leaving it out there and letting people draw their own conclusions. Some people know it’s a joke and others fell for it,” Newman said. “I’m a serial prankster.”
But now for the serious news — we hope. Newman said one of the reasons he left GrayRobinson was because he’s positioning himself to possibly run for public office someday. He didn’t think it would be appropriate to do from that firm, which has one of the biggest lobbying operations in the state. With Wilson Elser he’ll feel freer to do so, he said.
Generally, he said he’s positioning for possibly for a run for the Florida House or the Florida Senate. Those seats are both filled by solid Republicans where he lives — state Rep. Bob Cortes and state Sen. David Simmons. Newman said he’s looking ahead to possible shuffling of positions this year, particularly if Attorney General Pam Bondi leaves.
The New York City-based Wilson Elser also gives him more of a national platform for his practice, which focuses principally on health care law and medical malpractice defense. Wilson Elser already has an Orlando office, and he said he’d be helping the firm develop more of a statewide presence.
