Lege Council Attorneys Who Went To Work For Craddick
By Vince Leibowitz on May 28, 2007 in 80th Legislature
UPDATE: Want to draw your attention to something in the comments on these folks:
I hate to say something in contrast to you, but I have know and know of the trio you cite for many, many years. I know them to be Gentlemen of the First Sort….true professionals dedicated to the Legislature and the process…..If Craddick, Wilson of Keel ever expects any of them to bend the law or bend their intrepreations to serve the Speaker’s ends, they will be more than disappointed. (I must admit that, on ocasion, in the past I would have preferred they not be such straight shooters as it stopped me and my bosses from doing what we wanted.)
Mark Brown, Gary Kansteimer, and Jeff Archer, formerly attorneys with the Legislative Council, are the three attorneys now working for Keel and Wilson and Craddick’s parliamentary team. Questions abound as to whether or not there are conflicts of interest as they helped draft legislation and could now be working to help Craddick rule on points of order concerning what they drafted. We just heard word that bar grievances may be filed, although I am not sure the quick job switch or their jobs would violate the state bar’s canon of ethics.
I hate to say something in contrast to you, but I have know and know of the trio you cite for many, many years. I know them to be Gentlemen of the First Sort….true professionals dedicated to the Legislature and the process…..If Craddick, Wilson of Keel ever expects any of them to bend the law or bend their intrepreations to serve the Speaker’s ends, they will be more than disappointed. (I must admit that, on ocasion, in the past I would have preferred they not be such straight shooters as it stopped me and my bosses from doing what we wanted.)
Those are (or were) the top three folks in the Legal Division of the Texas Legislative Council: Mark Brown, Director; Gary Kansteiner, Deputy Director; and Jeff Archer, Special Counsel. (See the November 2006 Guide to Texas Legislative Council Services at http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/pubslegref/pubslegref.html).
P.S. I forgot to mention that it is common practice for Leg. Council lawyers to help out at the end of the session when things are moving so fast. They review bills for possible points of order and non-germane Senate amendments. Speaker Laney started the practice of not recognizing a member to concur in non-germane amendments but, instead, forced such bills to go to conference. That practice has been continued. There are just too many bills for the Speaker’s own staff to handle, so help is sought from the Council.