Florida Attorney General Pam Biondi has always cut a rather attractive figure on the legal circuit, but now she’s had to face questions about free trips taken to law conferences and the like where she has socialized with other lawyers.
Is this wrong? The media seem to smell a rat with this one, with the NY Times among others suggesting that her trips to other states where she socialized with corporations under investigation by other states was not appropriate. The most recent such ‘transgression’ by Ms Biondi was her permitting Washington lawyer Lori Kalani from Dickstein Shapiro to recuperate from hospitalization at her home. The two, together with two other lawyers, later travelled by charter flight to a Michigan conference.
The NY Times reported that The invitation to stay at Ms. Bondi’ s home in Tampa came after Ms. Kalani showed up at the Michigan resort with a foot injury, according to two people who attended the event. Ms. Bondi urged Ms. Kalani to consult with her own physician in Florida. After Ms. Kalani did so, Ms. Bondi invited her to stay as she recovered from surgery.
However, Ms Biondi rejected any such claim, indicating that she did not compromise her objectivity by such things.
