Lobbying powerhouse Greenberg Traurig LLP is establishing international operations and reaching for a deeper U.S. presence by strategically opening offices in fast-growing locations, key financial centers and state capitals.
The moves are being made to address the limitations of the consolidating legal field, Chief Operating Officer Cesar Alvarez said in a recent interview with the Sacramento Bee. Alvarez said his company felt the need to establish itself outside of its home city of Miami, which is not seen as a top center of legal activity.
The firm now has some 1,600 lawyers and 32 offices, including a number in Europe and Asia. It is looking to expand to Mexico and Canada as well, Alvarez said.
The impact of the Abramoff scandal on the firm is still being felt in Washington, Alvarez said, and the lobbying side of the company’s operations in D.C. remains quite small. On the whole, federal lobbying contributes less than 1 percent of the billion-dollar firm’s bottom line and has never been a large part of its business.
The firm’s connections to lobbying are still making news, however. On Friday, Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the leading Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called for an investigation into whether Stephen Johnson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, violated federal law when he attended a fundraiser in Colorado. The March 9 event, held to benefit Republican congressional candidate Rick O’Donnell, was organized by Greenberg lawyer Doug Benevento and held at the firm’s Denver offices, the Denver Post reported. Benevento had, until recently, been the head of Colorado’s health and environment office.
A spokeswoman said his attendance was both legal and ethical.
