Practice Areas
Our practice areas include all aspects of Political Law – campaign finance, election law, pay-to-play issues, the formation and operation of nonprofit organizations, government ethics and the regulation of lobbying, as well as administrative, corporate and commercial law.
Services that we provide to our clients include:
Campaign Finance & Election Law
Advice on federal, state, and local campaign finance laws.
We advise candidates for federal, state, and local office, political party committees, PACs and political organizations, national, state and local political party committees, associations of elected officials, donors, non-profit organizations, corporations, and unions about the rules governing political advocacy, communications and voter contact.
Start-up and on-going advice on the operation of and compliance for federal, state, and local PACs and political organizations.
We have extensive experience advising on compliance with federal, state, and local campaign finance laws, including registration and reporting requirements at the federal and state level for political committees and organizations.
We also handle tax, communications, and advertising law matters, as well as contract and employment matters for political campaigns and organizations.
Representation before campaign finance regulators.
We routinely represent clients before the Federal Election Commission and state election authorities in enforcement matters, rulemakings, advisory opinion requests, and other matters and proceedings.
Advice on pay-to-play issues for contractors.
We have hands-on experience dealing with the intersection of campaign finance and pay-to-play laws, and assist numerous investment management firms with setting up and operating compliance systems for federal, state, and local contribution bans.
Advice and representation on recounts, ballot access, candidate qualifications, and voting rights.
Our attorneys also have extensive experience in voting rights and election administration matters, and have handled numerous recounts, election contests, and redistricting cases. We advise candidates and ballot measure committees on ballot access requirements, and defend clients in qualification challenges. We advise candidate and non-profit clients on state-by-state election rules and regulations, and play a leading role in the design and implementation of voter protection operations.
Attorneys at the firm have also worked with state and local governments, and many elected officials, on all aspects of redistricting, census and voting rights law.
Government Ethics & Regulation of Advocacy
We represent Members of Congress before the Ethics Committees, and represent companies, government relations and lobbying firms in ethics matters and investigations by Congressional committees and by state and local legislative bodies and administrative agencies related to campaign finance and ethics issues.
Lobbying and FARA Compliance.
Our firm advises on lobbying registration, compliance, and related issues under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act, Foreign Agents Registration Act, as well as state and local lobbying laws, including regulations on grassroots and goodwill lobbying.
We also assist in completing registrations and lobbying disclosure reports for our clients, at the federal, state, and local level. We provide advice to entities involved in the advocacy arena on related matters, including gift and ethics rules, as well as representation in lobbying-related audits.
Intersection of lobbying and procurement laws.
The traditional “salesperson” role to a government agency is regulated lobbying in many state and local jurisdictions – our firm advises corporations, investment management professionals, and vendors on potential lobbying compliance and contingent-compensation bans for selling their services to government agencies.
Intersection of grassroots lobbying and campaign finance laws.
Traditional grassroots lobbying activities mentioning sitting public officials can be regulated by broad state and local campaign finance laws, especially if conducted close to an election. Our firm specializes in the intersection between this complex web of campaign finance and lobbying laws – as they intersect in ways that surprise even the most seasoned of campaign professionals.
Nonprofit Organizations
Our practice includes the establishment of non-profit and tax-exempt organizations, as well as on-going advice and services to those organizations, including applications to the IRS for recognition of tax-exempt status.
We have provided the legal guidance for the formation and growth of hundreds of 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), 501(c)(6), and 527 non-profit organizations, covering a range of charitable, advocacy, and political missions.
The Firm advises advocacy professionals, activists, and donors on the most legally and operationally effective way to structure new non-profits to meet their goals, including the choice of types of entity and the relationships between entities. We also routinely advise on ongoing compliance, corporate governance, employment, contract, and commercial matters for our non-profit clients.
Corporate & Commercial Law and Litigation
The Firm routinely handles corporate governance matters, contract negotiations and disputes, employment issues, agency and legislative investigations, and litigation for its clients in the non-profit, political, government relations, and advocacy arenas.
The firm also handles a wide array of corporate, commercial, and regulatory matters, including administrative law proceedings and litigation and commercial litigation, for our clients.
We also provide advice on ancillary matters that affect our clients, including litigation in federal and state courts and employment law counseling and advice.
Administrative Law
We represent organizations and companies in agency proceedings and in challenges to federal agency actions in the courts, particularly actions involving issues of agency jurisdiction and procedure. Our attorneys are also experienced in Freedom of Information Act procedure and litigation.