The National Law Journal (NLJ) ranked WilmerHale among the top three national law firms for its public policy work in its Influence 50 annual survey. The newly expanded Influence 50 list is a survey that measures the many ways in which lawyers can affect public policy. This year's ranking, based on 2014 public policy-related revenues, takes into account all public policy activities, legislative advocacy, congressional investigations, strategic counseling, regulatory advice and political law, among other areas.
WilmerHale has more than 100 lawyers in these practices, including an extraordinary number of attorneys with senior-level experience in the executive branch and on Capitol Hill:
- Strategic Response Practice—led by former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick and former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert Kimmitt—delivers integrated advice and representation to clients when problems cut across all three branches of government, reflecting the vision of Founding Partner Lloyd Cutler.
- Congressional Investigations Practice—led by former Associate White House Counsel Reginald Brown—combines substantive counsel on underlying regulatory and legal issues with specific knowledge of and experience with the relevant congressional committees, and our experience encompasses many of the most high-profile inquiries to arise over the last decade.
- Public Policy and Legislative Affairs Practice—led by former Special Counsel to President Clinton and House Judiciary Committee General Counsel Jonathan Yarowsky and former US Senate Chief of Staff Rob Lehman provides strategic counsel to a wide range of industry sectors. WilmerHale's team of legislative affairs and public policy lawyers possesses a unique understanding of how Congress works and what it takes to get things done in the nation's capital.
Yarowsky said, “The legal industry has awakened to the reality that legislative advocacy and public policy work are necessary components to a full-bodied law practice. Clients are now demanding more than a 'one Branch' strategy for certain issues that cross-cut the Congress, the Executive Branch and the courts.” The NLJ shared in its Influence 50 survey findings that large law firms are indeed recognizing that “clients have clamored for more of the influence service known to some in Big Law as 'law-plus,'” supporting WilmerHale's approach.
Yarowsky was also recently once again named a “Top Lobbyist” by The Hill. He has been included on this list, which recognizes individuals who effectively shape the agenda in Washington DC, each year since 2008. This year, The Hill reported that, “Yarowsky is a versatile player in the influence game who knows how to put his clients on the agenda.”