Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 17, 1992 TAG: 9203170146
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LITTLE ROCK, ARK. LENGTH: Medium
Clinton said she gave up thousands of dollars in legal fees to avoid any conflict with her husband's administration.
Democratic presidential contender Jerry Brown has accused Bill Clinton of unethically funneling state money to his wife's law firm. The controversy points out the difficulties that confront a career woman whose husband has political ambitions.
"I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas," she said.
Hillary Clinton does receive a small portion of nominal fees the Rose Law Firm collects from private clients to lobby or petition state agencies, one of her law partners said.
"It could be a potential conflict," said Webb Hubbell, a senior partner with the Little Rock firm. "But she leans over backward the other way to avoid any."
One such client was Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, which was owned by a friend and business partner of the Clintons. The law firm represented the troubled thrift before the state Securities Department in the 1980s.
Bill Clinton, on the presidential campaign trail, blasted Brown for questioning the couple's legal dealings and accused him of impugning his wife.
"It's just a typical thing men do to professional women," the governor said Monday.
Mary Dee Harris, chairwoman of the Task Force on Women's Issues for the Woman's National Democratic Club, said the type of criticism Hillary Clinton has received will become more common as women gain prominence in politics and business.
"When women competing in a small world move out into the world at large, they are seen by more people and are vulnerable to attacks," Harris said.
Hillary Clinton said, "The important issue is that the kind of choices women have to make today are the tough choices. That's still difficult for people to understand."
Asked if she could continue to work as a lawyer if her husband were president, Clinton said she would have to "rethink that one more time."
"I'm going to have to really think through what the rules are because right now I'm really confused how I would do it or if I could."
The 172-year-old Rose Law Firm is one of the oldest law firms west of the Mississippi River. The firm is known more for commercial litigation than for lobbying and bond business.
State Department of Finance and Administration records, which cover most state agencies, show that Rose was paid $135,905 for six contracts with the state since 1985. Bill Clinton has been governor of Arkansas since 1983, and also served a 1978-79 term.
The firm was bond counsel for three of the contracts and represented state agencies on two others, Hubbell said. The firm also was paid $3,000 in 1986 by North Arkansas Community College.
In addition, the firm was paid about $100,000 since 1983 for serving as counsel on $175 million worth of bond projects awarded by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, said ADFA Director Bob Nash.
The firm segregated the money from those contracts, and "Hillary doesn't get paid from that pot," Hubbell said.
Private citizens or groups sometimes hire the Rose firm to lobby or appear before state agencies, he said.
Hubbell said money from private clients, including the failed Little Rock thrift, is not segregated, even when the work involves a state agency.
In 1985, Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan hired the firm to help seek approval from the State Securities Department for money-raising techniques. Clinton said she did not work on the case, although her name was mentioned in a handful of letters written by the firm and department officials in connection with the case.
"It is possible she would receive, in a very small sense, some of the portion of those fees," Hubbell said. "In reality, that's not how it works, though."
He said he could not elaborate because the firm's partners have agreed not to publicize how they are paid.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB