By Justin Wise
The frenetic activity in Washington over the past two years has yet to show any signs of slowing down in the early months of 2022, which continues to drive substantial revenue gains for a number of BigLaw-affiliated lobbying shops in D.C.
Firms such as Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Holland & Knight LLP, K&L Gates LLP and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, coming off big earnings surges in 2021, posted a strong first quarter in lobbying revenue, according to Lobbying Disclosure Act figures reported last Wednesday and shared with Law360 Pulse.
“Last year was a blockbuster year in terms of LDA revenue, and we are on pace to exceed last year’s performance,” the co-leader of K&L Gates’ public policy practice, Paul Stimers told Law360 Pulse in an interview. He noted that economic instability, the war in Ukraine and efforts to pass major legislation is expected to keep Congress and the executive branch as busy as they have been the past couple years.
Brownstein Hyatt, the top lobbying shop in LDA revenue last year, reeled in more than US$15.3 million between January and March, a 22.5 per cent increase from the first quarter in 2021. Akin Gump earned US$13 million, which the firm said represented a firm record for the first quarter of a year.
Holland & Knight LLP said its first quarter LDA revenue estimate was US$10.1 million, a 37 per cent increase from the first quarter in 2021 and a 4.9 per cent increase from last year’s fourth quarter.
Squire Patton Boggs LLP, meanwhile, said it posted its fifth consecutive quarter of growth in LDA revenue, earning just over US$7.2 million. And K&L Gates reported US$5.2 million in LDA revenue between January and March, an 8.3 per cent increase from the first quarter of 2021.
Several Washington lobbying shops have seen their LDA earnings balloon the past two years as Congress pushed through massive COVID-19 relief packages and a new Democratic administration stepped into power. Activity in 2021 was also buoyed by extended negotiations on the US$1.2 trillion infrastructure package signed into law in November and the Build Back Better domestic spending bill, which stalled near the end of the year.
Lobbyists expect the pace of legislative activity to slow later this year as the 2022 midterms draw closer. But for now, they said, all indications are that movement won’t let up, especially as a Democratic-controlled Congress looks to implement its agenda before a possible retaking of the House and Senate by Republicans.
Legislation currently in focus for Democrats includes the America Competes Act, which targets areas such as semiconductor manufacturing and is designed to make the US more economically competitive with China. Lobbyists also noted that areas such as appropriations and the implementation of the infrastructure package have kept their practices busy so far in 2022.
Squire Patton managing partner Ed Newberry told Law360 Pulse that, coupled with geopolitical dynamics such as the raft of sanctions implemented in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, business will remain more active in Washington than it normally is during an election year.
Newberry said that Squire Patton’s first quarter LDA revenue growth is mainly linked to an uptick in international businesses and sovereign governments seeking advice on matters including sanctions, supply chain management and the relationship between the US and China.
The firm in the first quarter earned US$450,000 from Huawei, the China-based telecom giant, to lobby on telecommunications, export controls and trade, and economic sanctions, according to an LDA filing.
Newberry and Squire Patton partner Robert Kapla also noted that the firm’s lobbying practice is working in sync with a number of different groups, such as export controls and international trade, as multinational companies navigate the sprawling web of new sanctions across the globe.
“The current environment is pulling all of these things together,” Newberry said. “And that’s why we’re seeing an uptick in our reportable work, but the truth is we’re seeing an even better increase in our non-reportable work.”
Lobbyists predicted plenty of negotiations to take place in Capitol Hill in the immediate future, including around renewed efforts to reach a deal on the Build Back Better bill in addition to legislation targeting competitiveness with China.
“We expect a busy spring and summer, as the president and a Democratic Congress are highly motivated to pass a competitiveness bill and explore every opportunity for one more major domestic legislative package to restore our economy,” Arnold & Porter partner Kevin O’Neill, chair of the firm’s legislative group, told Law360 Pulse in an email. “World conditions will also require additional legislative action.”
Arnold & Porter, whose lobbying clients include 7-Eleven and Samsung Electronics Co., reported US$2.67 million in LDA revenue in the first quarter, up year-over-year by 5 per cent. Covington & Burling LLP posted US$3.8 million in first quarter LDA revenue, down 32 per cent from the same quarter in 2021.
Brownstein Hyatt and Akin Gump remained the top firms in terms of LDA revenue, following a year in which they each surpassed the US$50 million revenue mark.
Brownstein Hyatt’s top clients in the first quarter included oil and gas company Talos Energy, insurance company Athene Holding, real estate firm Lightstone Investments and asset manager Appollo Global Management, according to LDA filings.
Akin Gump’s top clients included Chinese tech firm ZTE Corp., the Gila River Indian Community and the semiconductor company Qualcomm. The firm also lobbied on behalf of Amazon and American Airlines during the first quarter.
–Editing by Alex Hubbard.
