Fort Hood Shooting Victims Hire Lobbyist on Compensation Issues

A group that represents victims of the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting and their families has enlisted a law firm for lobbying help in Washington.

Dinsmore & Shohl is advocating for the Coalition of Fort Hood Heroes on "[p]olicy reform related to, and equity and compensation for all victims of, the Fort Hood massacre," according to a lobbying registration report filed with Congress this week. Maj. Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist, is accused of killing 13 and wounding more than two dozen soldiers and civilians during the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting.

"We've been retained to ensure that the interests of the Fort Hood heroes are protected and to ensure that the government does right by these people," said Dinsmore partner Reed Rubinstein, who is handling the account.

Neither the coalition, which has the same Washington address as Dinsmore, nor the American Center for Civil Justice, a New York-based victim-advocacy organization that is affiliated with the group, has had a federal lobbyist before, according to congressional records that date to 1999.