Influence's Blog

O'Connor & Hannan Merges with Calif.-based Firm

The 23 lawyers and lobbyists of DC law and lobbying boutique O’Connor & Hannan will merge with California-based law firm Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott on Tuesday. The combined firm will have more than 150 attorneys and lobbyists across eight offices nationwide. In Washington, the firm will operate under the name Nossaman/O’Connor & Hannan. In the Arlington, Va., Austin, Los Angeles, Orange County, Calif., Sacramento, San Francisco, and Seattle offices, the combined firm will be called Nossaman.

The merger is the latest in a string of Washington boutiques to announce unions with bigger firms. Troutman Sanders and Washington litigation boutique Ross, Dixon & Bell, for example, announced their plan to combine last week. And Kilpatrick Stockton acquired D.C. corporate and financial transactions firm Muldoon Murphy & Aguggia last month.

“Merging with Nossaman allows us to better serve our clients’ range of needs,” said F. Gordon Lee, O’Connor’s managing partner, in a statement released by Nossaman.

In the same statement, Nossaman’s managing partner Michael Heumann said the two firms' complementary practices motivated the merger. He said his firm’s land use and environmental clients will benefit from a larger footprint in D.C., which will offer “the opportunity to contribute at a federal level to the formation of the laws that govern their businesses.”

O’Connor was founded in D.C. in 1957. Its lawyers and lobbyists represent corporate clients, trade associations, non-profit organizations, and public clients. The firm placed 50th in 2007’s Influence 50, Legal Times’ rankings of the top-grossing lobby shops, but did not make the cut for this year’s list.

Nossaman, founded in 1946, has practices focused on infrastructure, complex civil litigation, land use, environmental, real property, water, healthcare, corporate transactions, and public policy.

- Marisa McQuilken

Is the Nickles Group Thinking Blue?

The Nickles Group, led by former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), could be the next prominent all-Republican firm to go bipartisan.

"We're considering it is the way I would put it right now," Nickles says. "We don't have anything in the queue. We've just talked about it. We have lots of friends on both sides of the aisle."

Nickles founded his lobbying firm in 2005, after leaving the Senate. At the time, he says, he considered going into business with fellow former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), who instead joined the law firm Patton Boggs. Late last year, Breaux announced he was leaving Patton Boggs and founding the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group with retiring Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.). "I talked to him about it, and that's probably the last time I had any serious discussions," says Nickles. "We may do something different, but we haven't really decided that. We don't have the right person yet."

The Nickles Group has a long, rich client list that includes the American Dental Association, the American Hospital Association, Exxon Mobil, General Motors and General Electric. Representatives of the online travel agency Orbitz confirms that they, too, recently selected The Nickles Group to represent them, though they are still finalizing the deal.

But the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006 and the sense that Republican political fortunes are on the wane has led other all-Republican firms to go bipartisan recently, including BGR Holding (formerly Barbour Griffith & Rogers) which started a Democrat-led public relations branch.

Michigan Tribes Spin the Wheel in Washington

A major fight in the native American casino lobby is coming up for a full House vote this afternoon, and it's been keeping lobbyists both in and out of the Indian affairs field busy.

The vote pits two senior House Democrats against each other: Rep. John Conyers, who represents Detroit, is adamantly opposed to rival gambling enterprises in nearby jurisdictions. Rep. John Dingell, meanwhile, favors the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians' efforts to build a casino in Romulus, part of his district, and an accompanying pact that would allow for a casino in Port Huron.

The vote on approving the tribes' proposals is also a flashpoint among Michigan tribes themselves. Representing the Saginaw Chippewa, who oppose the new casinos, is Ietan Consulting, a top Indian affairs shop run by Larry Rosenthal. He characterizes the casino plans as opportunistic and potentially capable of causing a backlash against Indian gaming.

“There is not an Indian tribe in the country that supports these bills other than the two that are getting the casinos,” he says.

Lobbyists for the two Michigan tribes seeking casinos is a long list of firms, including Capitol Counsel, Wheat Government Relations, Patton Boggs, and Cornerstone Government Affairs. None returned calls seeking comment.

Of course, controversy over the casinos is hardly limited to just the Native American community. MGM Grand, which operates one of Detroit’s biggest casinos, has gone to the mat in opposition to the potential new rivals. Among other tactics, the casino giant has funneled money to an anti-gambling group fighting new casinos, according to Dingell. (They’re also represented by Cassidy & Associates).

Then there’s Marian Ilitch, a prominent member of the dynasty that built the Little Caesar’s pizza who has since gone on to own Detroit’s Motor City Casino. One of her business associates, Michael Malik, has been working with the Bay Mills Tribe on the Port Huron casino project.

Given Dingell's support, the casino proposals stand a decent chance. Less clear is the measure's support in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is expected to oppose it.

Washington Group, Sporidis Settle Lawsuit

The Washington Group last week settled an unusual lawsuit with a former lobbyist it accused of breaching a noncompete agreement, ending an unusually ugly public battle over issues more typically settled in private. Legal Times wrote about the case in April.

Details of the settlement were unavailable, but the judge in the case, Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said the case would be dismissed with prejudice, as long as the former lobbyist, Harry Sporidis, pays the agreed-upon settlement. Sporidis, now a lobbyist at Powell Goldstein, continues to represent two clients he first worked with at The Washington Group: Mentor, a breast implant company, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The Washington Group did not return a call seeking comment. In a statement, Sporidis thanked Powell Goldstein and his clients for their support, and said he is pleased the case is over. "I am excited about moving on with my clients and having a long career in a profession that I truly enjoy," he wrote.

Federal Policy Group Delivers Trouble for FedEx

Work against the interests of a client's rival is a well-recognized part of the lobbying profession. Even so, the effort by Federal Policy Group's Kenneth Kies to cause labor law trouble for FedEx is impressive.

It's no secret that UPS and FedEx are fierce business competitors and that labor relations is one key area of competition. UPS, which is unionized, spends intensively on employment benefits. FedEx, meanwhile, deems many of its drivers to be independent contractors, allowing it to skip benefits entirely. Given FedEx’s comparative advantage from the situation, there's nothing UPS would like to see more than for its rival to face labor problems.

According to a report by Bloomberg News, Kies compiled a 562-page report detailing alleged employment law violations by FedEx in Ohio, then sent it off to state labor officials who ultimately launched an investigation. Accompanying the package was a letter requesting informant status for Kies and anonymity. Ohio officials, who turned the papers over at Bloomberg's request, apparently didn't see fit to grant it.

The UPS strategy might be something of a pattern: Clark Consulting, of which Kies' Federal Policy Group was formerly a part, also sent Washington state officials a report on FedEx around the beginning of last year.

Boeing Wins Latest Skirmish in Tanker Battle

The back-and-forth between Northrop Grumman and Boeing over an multibillion-dollar contract for an Air Force refueling tanker isn't over yet.

The Government Accountability Office today sided with Boeing in the fierce fight over which company should get the contract. The Air Force had said it would award the contract to Northrop Grumman, but the GAO now says the Air Force made significant errors that could have affected that choice and should reopen the bid process.

In a statement, the GAO says it sustained Boeing’s protest for several reasons. Among the GAO’s reasons: The Air Force didn't assess the proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria. The Air Force first told Boeing it had satisfied a key objective, but later determined Boeing had only partially done so without telling Boeing of the change. The Air Force overlooked Northrop Grumman's refusal to agree to a specific requirement.

The two companies have waged a fierce lobbying and public relations battle over the contract. The fight has forced some firms that represented both companies to drop one, as Legal Times reported back in March.

Former Bush Administration Official Tied to Abramoff Entitled To New Trial

David Safavian, a former chief of staff for the General Services Administration, is entitled to a new trial on charges that he lied to investigators in the Jack Abramoff affair, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided today.

The Associated Press reports that the court unanimously decided to throw out charges based on statements Safavian made to ethics officials and the GSA inspector general, and order a new trial on other charges. The Justice Department has not yet said whether it will again prosecute Safavian.

Safavian was the first Bush administration official convicted in the Abramoff scandal.

Venable Makes a Trade Hire

Venable has hired former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Tiffany Moore, the firm's third addition this month to its public policy team.

Moore served in the Bush administration for just over two years as the director of the USTR’s Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison Office. During her tenure, Venable notes, the United States signed free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

Previously, Moore spent six years in the office of Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). Venable goes to some effort to show that nonetheless she isn't a strictly partisan figure, quoting Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) on her merits as a public servant.

Perhaps most importantly, Moore is also an experienced lobbying hand. Between 2003 and 2006, she headed the government affairs department of the Kellogg Co., a significant if not massive spender on lobbying.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Announces Changes to Its Board

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced this morning that it's chosen a new chairman and vice chairman to oversee the board of the behemoth business trade group.

Donald Shepard, the non-executive chairman of insurer Aegon USA, takes the top slot. Previously the Chamber’s vice chairman, Shepard has been a member of the association's board since 1998. According to Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue, Shepard was picked for the top job because of his role in launching the Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform and his guidance of the Chamber during a time of financial strictures in the late 1990s.

Filling in the number two slot is Robert Milligan, chairman of natural pet treat company M.I. Industries.

Milligan “will bring an excellent combination of both business and leadership experiences in helping the Chamber continue its push to promote international trade opportunities for American families, workers, and companies,” Donohue said in a statement.

Gill Jumps From Cassidy to Venable

Cassidy & Associates executive vice president Gregory Gill has jumped to Venable, where he'll be a partner in the firm's legislative and government affairs group.

Gill, a former aide to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), has been at Cassidy since 1991. His client list includes companies from Freddie Mac to Tiffany & Co. and he's also done a great deal of appropriations work, a Cassidy specialty. In an unusual move, Venable's statement on the Gill hire includes quotes praising Gill's understanding of Washington from three current members of Congress - Hoyer, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.). In the statement, Gill says he was interested in joining a full-service law firm.

It isn't immediately clear who will take on Gill's responsibilities at Cassidy, or which clients will join him at Venable. Watch the Influence blog for updates.