From the Baton Rouge Advocate – State Rep. Neil Abramson took a few minutes out of the House Civil Law and Procedure committee he chairs last week to point out that Jimmy Faircloth called him from the floor of the Louisiana House of Representatives and tried to intimidate him in “a secluded corner” of the State Capitol.
Abramson sponsors House Bill 618, which is a legislative fix to legacy lawsuits that oil companies back but landowners do not. It is the first of more than a dozen legacy lawsuit bills to clear committee and will be voted on by the full House later this week.
Faircloth, the governor’s former executive counsel who now is representing large private landowners in legacy lawsuit debate, answered by saying he was only alerting Abramson, as a courtesy, of possible future attacks. Copies of Abramson’s resume have been making the rounds over various news outlets during the past few weeks.
Abramson is a shareholder in a New Orleans law firm and defends oil companies against landowners’ legacy lawsuits. Faircloth said some could construe that as a conflict of interest.
Abramson responded that legislators routinely handle bills for the industry in which they work because they have the knowledge of the industry’s nuances and officials, plus it is legal.
Later in the week Baton Rouge lawyer Don Carmouche, who represents landowners in legacy lawsuits, held a press conference to announce he was filing a complaint against Abramson with the Board of Ethics. Officials with the ethics board are legally forbidden from commenting on such complaints.
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