GOP House Staffer Joins Sidley's Government Strategies Group

A Republican senior counsel on the House Financial Services Committee has left Capitol Hill for the Washington office of Sidley Austin.

Michael Borden, who started at the House Financial Services Committee in 2007, said on Monday he joined Sidley as a counsel in its government strategies group. Borden said he came to the firm in search of a challenge.

"Sidley felt like a perfect opportunity," he said.

Borden arrived on the Hill in 2004 to work for Representative James Leach (R-Iowa), serving as a legislative assistant in his office for two years. Next up for Borden, an attorney, was the House Financial Services Committee, where he helped the panel address the 2008 economic crisis, among other matters.

"Michael has been a trusted and valued adviser to both experienced and new House Members, and a mentor to countless members of our staff," Representative Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in September 13 remarks published in the Congressional Record. "His sound advice, counsel and acerbic sense of humor will be sorely missed."

Borden said working as a congressional staffer was the "best experience" of his life. "Leaving the Hill was a tough decision," he said.