Florida Statutes § 11.047 — Contingency fees; prohibitions; penalties.
AI-assisted research summary: This section bars anyone from paying, giving, receiving, or agreeing to a contingency fee tied to legislative action, with exceptions for claims bills and certain preexisting contracts.
11.047 Contingency fees; prohibitions; penalties.—(1) “Contingency fee” means a fee, bonus, commission, or nonmonetary benefit as compensation which is dependent or in any way contingent on the enactment, defeat, modification, or other outcome of any specific legislative action. (2) No person may, in whole or in part, pay, give, or receive, or agree to pay, give, or receive, a contingency fee. However, this subsection does not apply to claims bills. (3) Any person who violates this section commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. If such person is a lobbyist, the lobbyist shall forfeit any fee, bonus, commission, or profit received in violation of this section and is subject to the penalties set forth in s. 11.045. When the fee, bonus, commission, or profit is nonmonetary, the fair market value of the benefit shall be used in determining the amount to be forfeited. All forfeited benefits collected shall be deposited into the Legislative Lobbyist Registration Trust Fund. (4) This section does not apply to any contract providing for compensation by contingency fee which is in existence on the date this act becomes a law and which does not provide for compensation by contingency fee for lobbying after December 31, 1993. (5) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit any salesperson engaging in legitimate state business on behalf of a company from receiving compensation or commission as part of a bona fide contractual arrangement with that company.