The prospect of finding the right person to be your lobbyist can prove daunting — particularly in light of the overcharges, conflicts of interest and illegal tactics laid bare during recent lobbying scandals. There are, however, a number of resources available to help you find the right person.
For lobbyists at the state or local level there is Arlington-based Stateside Associates. Stateside uses an extensive list of contacts and referrals to find advocates-for-hire across the country.
“We do conflict checks, ethics compliance and we determine if they have the capacity” to represent a client, Stateside President and CEO Connie Campanella said.
The firm takes no money from lobbyists, working only on a retainer from its clients. They try to match clients with lobbyists who have a compatible style and can screen out awkward pairings — like putting a health services company with a firm that also represents tobacco firms.
There appears to be no similar service for federal-level lobbyists. There are, however, several useful databases that can help you sort out who is available, whether they have experience with your issue and if they represent someone else with competing interests.
Probably the most familiar is Washington Representatives. Published since 1977, this hefty tome lists lobbying firms and who they represent, clients and who represents them (including in-house staff) and a cross reference section listing individual lobbyists employers and clients. The new book, out in May, will cost $249 and a full-sized updated volume for the same price will follow it in November. Buy both and the price goes down. Publisher Columbia Books also makes the data — which comes from federal disclosure forms, questionnaires Columbia sends out and industry press — available via the Web for a fee. The basic service, lobbyists.info, costs $699 a year. For $3,000 you can download some of the information.
Influence, a publication from Legal Times, also maintains an online database called Lobby Search. A limited version of the database, drawn from lobbyist registration forms, is available for free. Publisher Ann Pelham said the clients the lobbyists represent are not included on the free site. Access to the for-fee database, which has entries enhanced by some of the firms, costs $599 a year.
Once you have found candidate firms, interview several personally, former American League of Lobbyists President Paul Miller said. Miller, who now serves as president of the firm Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies, and other experts recommend talking price with a number of different lobbyists before signing a contract.
If you still have trouble finding a firm to represent you, ask the firms you contact for referrals to other companies.
“A lot of business still comes through word of mouth,” Miller said.
Dee Ann Divis is the business editor of The Washington Examiner. Contact her at [email protected]
