Government Relations

• Campaign Finance and Ethics Advice
• Government Relations
• Lobbying
• Legislative Monitoring
• Government Procurement
• Legislative Drafting
• Legislative Research

Navigating campaign finance and government ethics laws can be a dangerous minefield for a business to navigate without experienced counsel providing timely advice. Our attorneys are intimately familiar with the nuances of state and local campaign finance and government ethics laws and can guide you on the proper course to avoid embarrassing disclosures and costly mistakes. We uphold the highest ethical standards so that our clients do not read about their actions in the media. Our attorneys are proud of their practical experience in campaigns, politics, fundraising, ethics reform and lobbyist regulation and are respected by those in authority as the “go-to” sources for authoritative guidance.

Our attorneys provide representation on legislative and administrative matters before city councils, county councils and county commissions, the Maryland General Assembly, the US Congress and agencies of municipal, county, state and Federal governments, including collaboration in the development of a legislative agenda, strategy and coalitions. They have the experience and reputation to provide a bridge for our clients with the best vantage and positioning in order to achieve their goals. Each of our clients is navigated by our attorneys with optimal insight into the processes and procedures of each legislative and administrative body and their matter guided through with collaboration and constant communication between our clients and our attorneys in utilizing our well-founded professional relationships cultivated over years of our representation before these bodies. Our established reputation among elected officials, government officials, and key administrative decision makers enhances our objectives in a positive environment and advantageous positioning in having resources accessible to our clients not easily accessible to others. Our attorneys use these relations to work hard to receive the best possible outcomes on behalf of our clients and simultaneously work to create and establish positive relationships between our clients and appropriate officials to continue to reinforce success of their goals.

Lobbying is the pursuit and effort to obtain certain outcomes with legislation on our client’s behalf. This legislation becomes our priority as it impacts goals and objectives that are of great importance to our clients. Our lobbyists are registered with the Maryland State Ethics Commission and routinely complete and stay current on legislative activity reporting to remain compliant with the State of Maryland’s lobbying regulations and procedures. We have extensive experience in lobbying before legislative bodies on bills and budgetary matters. One of the primary components in lobbying is the ability of our attorneys to introduce our clients to key executive and legislative decision makers. These opportunities enable our clients to be able to develop a standing with these decision makers to be in a position to discuss the aspects of their matters and allow for the advantage of insight into items that need to be addressed and the issues most needing to be worked through. We strategically work with other groups and organizations to generate a grass roots response. As part of our lobbying efforts, our attorneys draft and prepare testimony for witnesses at public hearings. Once a legislative bill has been drafted, our lobbyists evaluate the legislative environment to pursue the right bill sponsors for that bill to help enhance the cause and gain strategic advantage for the legislation.

Our attorneys stay highly motivated in keeping current on legislative and budgetary matters for trade groups, corporations, real estate developers, coalitions, and local governments. During General Assembly Session, legislation is constantly monitored and tracked for any updates on votes, amendments, testimony, and committee assignments. Our attorneys are in Annapolis, attending hearings, meeting with elected officials, polling votes, monitoring discussions, and evaluating possible outcomes and the impact, if any, to our clients. Any relevant legislation is tracked from the time of introduction through the process of being assigned a House Bill number and Senate Bill number and is followed from the drafting stage through committee hearing, floor action to the time of approval or rejection by the Governor. Our attorneys work to understand all of the players involved in the sponsorship of the legislation by legislators and the objectives of those sponsors for that legislation in its various stages. We use all of our resources to not only monitor known legislation impacting our clients, and also strive to anticipate any other potential legislative objectives that may impact any legislation that would affect any of our clients. There are constantly different regulations being introduced and we pride ourselves in ensuring that our clients are not unaware of any potential impact so that we are in a position and prepared to address any legislation to our clients’ benefit.

The state and local government market is a key market for vendors. We work with businesses to pick the right targets and develop the right strategies to reach out to those targets. Our attorneys are familiar with the key executive and administrative decision makers to create opportunities for clients on government procurement matters by opening doors to them prior to the commencement of the procurement process. We represent clients at pre-bid meetings, during the procurement process, and in bid protests.

Our attorneys have extensive experience in drafting legislation and amendments to achieve client objectives. The process is a very delicate and legally consuming work in that we make every effort to ensure the drafted legislation contains the language necessary to achieve the correct objective of the legislation while ensuring that it is without conflict of any other established legislation to the contrary. The draft is presented in the correct format and then processed, reviewed, and edited through coordination with the client and the legislative sponsors to ensure that the language achieved for the proposed legislation can pass legal muster. There are many instances where the goal is to modify previously established legislation to better purpose and define the parameters and objectives defined in that legislation. We are very skilled in drafting and presenting alternatives to existing legislation and guiding the modifications to any legislation through the amendment process.

Researching legislation is extremely cumbersome work which includes, researching legislative developments in other jurisdictions, gathering pertinent legislative history, examining all associated legislation, compiling relevant budget information, analyzing all cross-referenced house and senate associated legislation, tracking bill sponsors, evaluating margins of success of previously enacted legislation, researching any potential drafted language being introduced into the legislation process, and current standings on any issues impacting any items of research . Our attorneys are very detailed in ensuring that our research is thorough and complete as possible. We use all of our resources available to look into any matter in the fullest extent possible so that our clients are at the best vantage of being informed. Once research is completed, our attorneys prepare and present our research in a persuasive and concise manner.