Political Law & Government Ethics

Focusing exclusively on private-sector clients—including corporations, trade associations, hedge funds, private equity firms, political action committees (PACs) and private individuals—we assist with structuring political activities to stay firmly in line with federal, state and local statutes.

Regardless of political affiliation or the goals of a particular client, our practice focuses on allowing for successful engagement in the political process.

We advise on activity related to key laws involving political law and government ethics, including:

• Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).
• Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
• Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) Compliance.
• STOCK Act and Political Intelligence Activities.
• Pay-to-Play Laws.
• Congressional and executive branch ethics and gift rules.
• Federal and state PAC reporting and disclosure.
• State and local campaign finance laws and reporting.
• State and local lobbyist registration and related reporting, including efforts to influence government contracts with governmental entities.
• Placement agent bans on prohibitions on contingency fees for efforts to influence governmental entity contracts.
• Post-government employment restrictions.
• Conflict of interest provisions.
• Government inquiries and enforcement actions.

To address the multitude of laws governing political activity—many of which are industry specific—we develop and implement compliance programs and provide associated training. Our team is an invaluable tool: preparing federal, state and local lobbying registration and disclosure reports and campaign contribution reports, vetting contributions regulated under federal and state pay-to-play rules, and screening gifts and entertainment provided to federal and state officials and their employees.

The team is highly experienced at handling interactions with regulators, responding to requests for information and other actions by the government in enforcement proceedings. We regularly represent clients before the Federal Election Commission (FEC), FARA and Public Integrity divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Government Accountability Office (GAO), Office of Congressional Ethics (OEC) and numerous state and local agencies.

Drawing on a rarely matched combination of deep knowledge of political law and government ethics regulations—along with a team handling government and congressional investigations and a litigation practice skilled in handling white collar criminal defense and securities—we address the full range of related issues.