Anticipating Regulatory Changes, Law Firms Hire Nonlawyer Experts
Law firms that do public policy and lobbying work are beefing up their nonlawyer staffs in anticipation of changes in regulations governing financial services and public finance.
The new hires include lawmakers and congressional staffers, the National Law Journal reports. They include:
• U.S. Rep. Susan Molinari, who is joining Bracewell & Giuliani in its government relations and strategy section.
• Democratic fundraiser Vincent Frillici, who joined Patton Boggs.
• Arthur Chan, a staffer to Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who joined Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
Manatt partner George Kieffer told the NLJ that the expertise of its public policy professionals could mean a need to changes its billing practices.
“A client can ask one law firm to examine a problem and get billed for a hundred hours of research, or they can go to another firm and talk to a specialist who is not a lawyer, but in an hour [the client] understands the problem and has a strategy the law firm never would have devised with any amount of legal research. So what is that hour worth?” Kieffer said. “It certainly is worth much more than the one hour the conversation required.”
Topics: Career & Practice
Duane Morris bestows partner title on powerless attorneys to shift tax and business costs, suit alleges
Your Voice
Hidden Talent Pool in Plain Sight: Corporate America wants you—for nonlegal roles
Podcasts
