A Washington lawyer has returned to Steptoe & Johnson's government affairs and public policy group as a partner after a year as a House Republican aide, the firm announced last week.
James Barnette, a Steptoe partner from 2007 to 2011, served last year as general counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee under Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) He will center his work at Steptoe on telecommunications, energy, environmental and health care matters.
Barnette said he never intended to stay on Capitol Hill for a long time and is happy to be back at Steptoe.
“It is kind of like coming home,” he said.
Prior to his one-year House stint, Barnette lobbied for more than two dozen Steptoe clients, according to congressional records. Those clients include AOL Inc., Cigna Corp. and Dish Network Corp.
He also was the chairman of Steptoe’s political action committee from 2007 to 2011.
Before he joined the firm, Barnette worked a few months as a lobbyist at The Scott Group, which merged with Steptoe in 2007. He previously spent a stint at Collier Shannon Scott (now Kelley Drye & Warren) after leaving the House Energy Committee in 2005. He had served as the general counsel for the panel Republicans since 1995.
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