Senate President Joe Negron resigned from his law firm to avoid a possible conflict of interest over the Republican leader’s advocacy on a water issue that has put him directly at odds with one of the firm’s biggest clients.

Negron announced Monday he is stepping down from the Gunster Law Firm, which has a long history of representing U.S. Sugar Corp., days after a bill dealing with a land purchase affecting Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades was introduced in the Senate.