Updated Aug. 24
Morgan Lewis & Bockius last week informed Congress that it is lobbying on behalf of an organization that represents more than 250 companies that solicit federal government contracts.
According to congressional records, Morgan Lewis partner Donna Yesner is advocating for the Coalition for Government Procurement on contracting and health care issues related to the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments. The organization lists Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Information Technology, HNI Companies, Northrop Grumman and the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge as its "keystone members."
Yesner, who sits on the board of advisers for the group, referred inquiries to Coalition President Roger Waldron.
The Coalition president said Yesner provides his organization with important guidance on government procurement issues.
"She's a very good lawyer, and she knows her stuff," Waldron said.
Yesner previously lobbied for the organization as a partner at McKenna Long before she joined Morgan Lewis in May. Yesner in 2006 successfully argued for the Coalition before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on a case concerning TRICARE rebate claims.
The group said an October 2004 Department of Veterans Affairs letter to drug makers didn’t adhere to the correct procedures for rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act. The letter said companies that manufacture drugs covered by the Defense Department health care benefits program must refund the difference between the wholesale commercial price and federal ceiling prices of the pharmaceuticals.
The court agreed with the Coalition, ruling the letter involved a substantive rule that was enacted without following APA procedures.
McKenna Long still is registered to lobby for the association, according to congressional records. But it hasn’t reported any lobbying activity for about a year.
The firm last reported that it lobbied for the group between July 1, 2010, and Sept. 30, 2010, on matters concerning the sweeping health care legislation that became law last year.
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