Replacing Rob

As if Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis—the octopus-like Nashville law/lobbying firm whose tentacles stretch throughout local and state government—doesn’t have enough influence, it’s about to thrust one of its own into the legislature.

Waller partner Mike Stewart, who specializes in helping big businesses dodge state taxes, is the favorite to succeed the disgraced state lawmaker Rob Briley as one of Nashville’s representatives in the House. If he wins the seat, Stewart promises to resign from Waller to avoid conflicts of interest. But voters might wonder whether he can distance himself from his colleagues at the ubiquitous firm so easily. Waller attorneys have poured contributions into his campaign against the baby-faced Eric Stansell—another lawyer who, unlike Stewart, has spent much of his career defending the interests of consumers against business rip-offs.

Waller lobbies for such entities as the Tennessee Road Builders Association, Wal-Mart, BFI Waste Systems, the Nashville Predators and Bells Landing Partners, which is angling at the moment to build an enormous Cool Springs-like development at Bells Bend—one of the last green places in Davidson County.

That’s an impressive lineup of very rich clients, giving Waller unusual clout at the Capitol. This session, the firm’s intrepid lobbyists, Tom Lee and James (the Dream) Weaver, were able to help commercial real-estate tycoons keep a fat tax break. It was a defeat for the governor, who was looking for ways to mitigate budget cuts harming children and the needy sick, among others.

On its website, the firm boasts of its expertise in helping companies outfox regulators to pollute the environment. Weaver himself has represented “responsible parties at over 40 Superfund sites,” according to the website.

Stewart hasn’t lobbied for Waller, but instead advises big businesses on state tax matters. He recently won a landmark decision in the Tennessee Supreme Court in which Eastman Chemical Company received a $1.3 million tax refund. He insists all his ties to Waller suddenly will cease to exist if he wins the August Democratic primary, which is the same as winning the election in the 52nd District.

“I’m leaving the firm [if elected],” he says. “I expect to be a sole practitioner and will probably focus on doing work for other lawyers on a contract basis rather than handling significant cases myself,” says Stewart, adding that he wouldn’t take referrals from Waller, “absolutely not.”

“If I’m in the legislature, I’m going to focus on being in the legislature, and my law practice will have to take a backseat to that,” says Stewart, who has taken a leave of absence without pay from the firm while campaigning. “I have no plan to do any work at all for any of Waller’s clients. It would be an absolutely clean break. There will be no effort to do work for Waller or its clients. You can take that to the bank. I’m not going to work for the firm or its clients.”

Stewart almost beat former Nashville Mayor Bill Boner back in 1996 for this same seat. He will almost certainly win this time, even though the House district covers neighborhoods in East Nashville and Green Hills that are filled with good-government types who typically don’t side with big business on issues before the legislature. Briley, who held the seat for 10 years before his drunken escapades forced him to bow out of public life, was a tool for the trial lawyers and hardly a friend of big business.

As is generally the case, the candidates in this party primary are saying the same things about the issues. They’re for better schools, lower taxes, more jobs. That should make the backgrounds of the candidates more important, but it won’t work out that way. Stewart’s advantage is largely that he can leverage his Waller connections for campaign contributions. He easily could wind up outspending Stansell by a 4-to-1 margin. Because Stansell, a former state consumer affairs lawyer, won’t have much money to communicate with voters, many will never know how his opponent has been making a living.

“It’s gotten to the point where the average person, it’s very difficult for them to run,” Stansell says. “I go door to door five hours a day and try to talk to as many people as I can.”

Stewart points out that, in addition to large corporations trying to avoid paying taxes, he represented a dozen people who drank well water that they claimed was poisoned by a Dickson auto-manufacturing plant. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2004.

“I think my constituents can expect me to be completely independent and, more specifically, to vote in line with the Democratic Party’s general principles,” he says. “I’m a strong Democrat. That’s my bias.”