Record lobbying revenue for Brownstein, two Ohio law firms to merge, official who crafted Russia sanctions joins Crowell, Axiom launches own firm
Reuters Legal
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Lobbyists in Washington, D.C., reported another blockbuster year of earnings on Friday, with law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck setting a new record for lobbying revenue in 2022.
Brownstein -- whose lobbying clients include Apollo Global Management, Johnson & Johnson, and the biometric security firm Clear Secure -- said it earned $61.62 million from federal lobbying last year, including $15.62 million in revenue in the fourth quarter.
Nadeam Elshami, who co-chairs Brownstein's lobbying arm, in a statement, credited its "bipartisan team" for driving another record year.
"We will continue to build upon our successes as we help our clients navigate a divided Congress."
Competitor law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld reported $14.05 million in federal lobbying earnings during the last quarter of 2022, bringing its total for the year to $53.14 million.?
Another U.S. law firm with a lobbying arm, Holland & Knight, reported an estimated $43.36 million in lobbying earnings last year, up almost $10 million from 2021. It estimated it earned $11.11 million last quarter.
Two midsize Ohio law firms said this week that they will merge in April to form a 200-lawyer firm, marking the latest in a string of large and midsize law firm combinations announced since the start of the year.
Columbus-based Bricker & Eckler and Cincinnati-based Graydon Head & Ritchey said Thursday they will merge to become Bricker Graydon. The new firm will have 12 offices across Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, with a total headcount of 378 employees, including 208 lawyers.
Many U.S. law firms have grappled with stagnant or falling client demand over the past year, but Bricker managing partner Jim Flynn said the merger is not a response to financial pressures.?
"Our firms have been mirror images of each other for years, just in different markets."
The combinations are part of a growing roster of law firm mergers in 2023, which include deals between Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Buckley,?Holland & Knight and Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, and?Maynard Cooper & Gale and Nexsen Pruet.
Law firm merger activity took a sharp tumble in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, mergers have increased year-over-year, with law firm consultancy Fairfax Associates?tracking 46 completed mergers?in 2022.
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U.S. law firm Crowell & Moring said Monday that it has hired a former U.S. Treasury Department lawyer who played a key role in designing and implementing economic sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine last year.
Jason Prince , who served as chief counsel to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), joined the firm as a partner in its international trade and financial services practices in Washington, D.C.
Prince, who oversaw the legal review of new sanctions packages as chief counsel to OFAC, said the speed and scope of the measures were unprecedented for an economy of Russia's size.
"We're moving into a phase now where all of those sanctions and export controls have been put in place, and the government will focus increasingly on making sure that they're being complied with."
Prince spent nearly three years as a lawyer at the Treasury Department. He previously worked at law firms Stoel Rives and Holland & Hart, where he also focused on sanctions issues.
Flexible legal talent company Axiom opened up its own Arizona-based law firm on Monday, becoming the latest company to take advantage of loosened lawyer regulations to start a new legal business in the state.
Axiom leaders said the firm, Axiom Advice & Counsel, will incorporate new technologies and adopt a staffing and compensation model that allows it to keep costs down for corporate clients.
Regulatory changes in Arizona beginning in 2020 eliminated a rule that barred people who are not lawyers from having an economic interest in law firms, paving the way for Axiom to launch the new firm.
?LegalZoom?and?Elevate Services, two big legal services companies, have taken a similar route by gaining licenses for subsidiaries or affiliates to practice law.
Axiom said its law firm will operate independently, with local lawyer Matt Levine as its managing partner.
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