A Denver-based law firm made more money lobbying the federal government than any other firm in the country between April and June.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck took in more than $10 million in federal lobbying revenue during that time, the firm has announced. Itap the first time Brownstein has earned a top spot and comes at a time of .
“I wanted our firm to be involved in the national debate, even though it was a Colorado-based law firm,” said founder Norm Brownstein in an interview Friday. “There’s really no history of that in the history of law firms in Colorado.”
On average, Brownstein’s 49 lobbyists brought in $205,510 each between April and June, the firm says. Marc Lampkin, a veteran Republican lobbyist who heads up the firm’s Washington operations, credited tax reform efforts and a divided Congress for the increased revenue.
“Even before the emergence of the Democrat House, we welcomed new colleagues who are very well-positioned in that world,” he said.
The firm hired , former chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as well as a former chief of staff to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. On the Republican side, it has former 13-term of California. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt .
“We have a significant presence in the health care industry,” Brownstein said. “We recently hired a woman who was the head of legislative affairs at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”
The firm has “well over 100 clients, big and small,” Brownstein says. Other policy areas it lobbies on include taxes, pharmaceuticals, natural resources and telecommunications.
One of the firm’s most controversial clients, the government of Saudi Arabia, did not help it rise to the top of last quarter’s lobbying ranks, since work for foreign governments is not counted in the rankings, according to Lampkin. The firm has also lobbied for the governments of Cambodia, Mexico and Iraq, .
