Come January, for the first time anyone can remember the top two legislators are attorneys who either individually or through their firms could be hired out, raising the question of "secret" conflicts of interest should the men decline to name their clients.

Valentine has told the Deseret Morning News that as president he'll continue his practice of not naming clients. He will declare conflicts of interest from the floor and in committee as votes are taken on bills that could directly impact one of his clients, as current legislative rules require.

Curtis says he'll disclose the names of his clients if the clients don't ask for attorney/client privilege. And in any case, Curtis said he'll declare conflicts as votes arise.

But Curtis' joining Hutchings, Baird & Jones has a bit of a twist, for the partners' histories — both in civil litigation, on behalf of big developers, and in politics — are unique.

Baird, a hard-charging Democrat, ran for Congress in the 3rd District in 1984 and for the state Senate in 1982, losing both races. He's been a national party delegate, active in county and state party activities. His brother, Brian Baird, is a Democratic U.S. congressman from the state of Washington.

Besides his own races, Bruce Baird has worked on a number of high-profile Democratic campaigns, lashing out at Republicans along the way.

"I worked for Ted Wilson, Palmer DePaulis, for Pig (Frank Pignanelli), all in Salt Lake City mayor's races. I've worked for Dave Jones" in both his Salt Lake City mayoral and legislative races.

Baird currently writes a monthly column for City Weekly newspaper, in which he goes after powerful Utahns right and left, and is a guest commentator on ABC 4's local weekly current affairs program hosted by Chris Vanocur.

Baird says he has no work pending before the Legislature, but he did serve on a legislative land development task force that gave its report to lawmakers last October.

"Basically, I hate the current code" on state land development and open space, Baird said. The task force "was an honest effort" to fix some of the problems.

Baird says his two law partners, Hutchings and Jones, "are not political." But Hutchings has sued a number of local cities over disputed zoning issues, including a $10 million suit against Riverton city.

Curtis said as an attorney for Hutchings, Baird & Jones, he may well appear before some local county commissions or city councils representing developer clients, and in some cases, disputes may end up in court with him suing local governments. But he doesn't see that as a conflict with being speaker, a post he'll hold at least through 2006.

"It is no different than if you were a personal injury lawyer and your client got run over by a county garbage truck, or you were a criminal attorney and your client was charged with a crime" by a local city prosecutor. Said Curtis: "Being in court is what attorneys do."

---

E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com