The oil spewing from BP's well into the Gulf of Mexico is toxic to dolphins, turtles and countless fish and bird species. Even some species that thrive in a slimy environment are struggling to escape BP's slick. For example: The Florida lawyer.

In just the past few weeks, two prominent lawyers - Joe Negron and Dan Gelber - quit law firms that had agreed to accept BP as a client. Granted, these are a peculiar subspecies: the lawyer/politician. Maybe they're more sensitive to guilt-by-association than their less evolved relatives.

Mr. Gelber, a Democratic state senator from Miami Beach who is running for attorney general, left the law firm of Akerman Senterfitt after it agreed to represent BP in civil lawsuits arising from the spill. Mr. Gelber's primary opponent, Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, is trying to score political points from an imagined Gelber-BP link.

The example set by Mr. Negron is a better indication of just how toxic BP is to his breed. Mr. Negron is the incumbent state senator representing District 28. Far from being in a close race, Sen. Negron, R-Stuart, has just been reelected without opposition. Yet he still left Akerman Senterfitt after it got BP business.

Sen. Negron insists that he took a new job with Gunster to "be closer to my family." Sure, sure. But Sen. Negron knows that BP lawsuits still would be around in four years to haunt him should he be on the ballot.

So it's not true that lawyers will represent anybody who can pay. What if enlightened self-interest becomes a habit? Maybe lawyers who balk can make a spill-related claim that BP ruined their ability to make a living.