Phil Ammann
As the 2018 election cycle heats up, there’s no shortage of easy targets for campaigns and candidates.
Attorney General hopeful Jay Fant has been quick to bash his opponent for taking campaign contributions from trial attorneys.
Fant — himself an attorney — took former Hillsborough judge Ashley Moody to task in a recent email fundraising plea: “Moody, who has won the backing of trial lawyers nationally and in Florida, has now surpassed the $100,000 mark in contributions from 90 trial lawyers and firms.”
He continues: “Trial lawyers want a revolving door for class action suit against successful businesses and it’s clear their candidate in the Attorney General’s race is Ashley Moody.”
It would make for a valid talking point, except that Fant does just what he blasts Moody for — vying for campaign cash from “trial lawyers.”
A couple of weeks after his email against Moody, Fant held a Fort Lauderdale $1,000-per-person fundraiser April 25 in his bid to succeed Pam Bondi — at the offices of DiPierto Partners, a law firm that proudly declares they are “trial lawyers who will stand by you.”
“What distinguishes Di Pietro Partners LLP is that our lawyers have tried more than 100 jury trials,” the firm’s website proclaims. “While not every case needs to be tried, it’s important to retain a lawyer who regularly tries cases. Only then will the other side in a legal dispute take your case seriously.”
Last year, lead partner David Di Pietro announced his firm would be filing suit against Delta on behalf of one of the victims of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shooting Jan. 6, 2017.
Or, in other words, trial lawyers at Di Pietro are doing what they do best — being trial lawyers. Exactly what Fant is keen to decry.
