VA Watchdog Stuff
cups, hats, shirts
click here to
support the site





Be sure to get all five
VA Watchdog dot Org
RSS feeds --
Daily VA
News Flashes
House CVA
Veterans' News
Senate CVA
Veterans' News
VA Press
Releases
VSO Press
Releases

Download your
free copy of the
2007 VA benefits
handbook here...

Printer-Friendly Version

JIM NICHOLSON JOINS HIGH-POWER D.C. LOBBYING

FIRM -- Former VA Secretary takes job as "senior

counsel" which is code for lobbyist.

Well, isn't this a surprise?

Former VA Secretary Jim Nicholson is now a highly-paid D.C. lobbyist.

His new position is "senior counsel" which is code for lobbyist.

You know he's not really an attorney for this firm because he hasn't practiced law in umpteen years.

If he BSs his clients as well as he BSed Congress when he was Secretary, he'll do just fine.

We have two pieces of information...first is the announcement from the lobbying firm and second is an article about the firm.

For more information about Jim Nicholson, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=jim+nicholson&op=ph

Press release here... http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin
/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-16-2008/0004737277&EDATE=

Press release below:

-------------------------

Jim Nicholson, Former Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Joins Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

WASHINGTON,  /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Brownstein Hyatt
Farber Schreck is pleased to announce that R. James "Jim" Nicholson has joined the firm as senior counsel. His practice areas will include public policy, health care, international law, state and federal regulatory law, real estate, oil and gas, and alternative energy. Secretary Nicholson will begin work at the firm's Washington office on February 1.

"I am enthused to join this prestigious law firm, which is so highly
respected around the country for the quality and breadth of its legal
work," said Nicholson.

Nicholson served most recently as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, having been confirmed on January 26, 2005 by a unanimous vote of the Senate. As Secretary, he was responsible for the second largest department of government with more than 250,000 employees and a budget of $77 billion. Nicholson is credited with affecting major reforms at the VA including the transformation of the information technology (IT) and security systems, an overhaul of the VA's vast contracting and acquisition systems, and real estate management and construction programs. He also launched initiatives to eradicate staph infections in VA hospitals and greatly expanded the VA's health care capabilities.

"We are grateful for Jim's many years of public service and we know that his tremendous experience in the public arena will make him a great new addition to our team," said Norman Brownstein, chairman of the firm.

Prior to his tenure at the VA, Nicholson served as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. As the representative of the president and the people of the United States at the Vatican, he gave special focus to the issues of human trafficking, religious freedom, starvation and biotech food, HIV-AIDS, and international terrorism. In October 2003, Pope John Paul II knighted Nicholson for his leadership on human rights issues.

In January 1997, Nicholson was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee. During his four-year tenure, the Republican Party, for the first time in 50 years, won the White House, both houses of the U. S. Congress, a majority of state governorships, and a majority of State legislatures.

In the early '70's, Nicholson practiced law as a partner of a well-known Denver firm. In 1978, he established Nicholson Enterprises, Inc., which he built into a nationally recognized land development and home building company, earning a reputation for quality land use planning with a keen balance between growth and environmental sensitivity.

Nicholson served as a commissioner on the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission. He was a director of St. Mary Land and Exploration Company, a director of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado, Inc., and chairman of the board of the Volunteers of America of Colorado. Currently, he serves as director of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc.; The Daniels Fund; Federated Funds; and is a fellow of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Nicholson is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was an Army Ranger in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantry Badge for his service in combat. He retired from the U.S. Army Reserve with the rank of colonel. In May 2005, he was recognized with the Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Military Academy Award.

Nicholson earned a master of arts degree from Columbia University and a law degree from the University of Denver College of Law.

For more information on Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, visit http://www.bhfs.com

-------------------------

Article about firm here... http://thehill.com/busi
ness--lobby/k-street-firm-bucks-trend-raises-revenue-2007-02-21.html

Article below:

-------------------------

Business & Lobbying

K Street firm bucks trend, raises revenue

By Jeffrey Young

Last year was a tough one for K Street, with many of the largest firms experiencing either lower lobbying revenues or slower growth compared to recent years, but one company bucked the trend by considerably boosting its receipts: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

The Denver-based law firm, known as Brownstein Hyatt & Farber until the finalization of its merger with the Las Vegas-based legal practice Schreck & Brignone this year, brought in $11.2 million in lobbying revenue in 2006, a remarkable 64.7 percent increase from 2005.

This growth propelled Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck into the elite ranks of firms with annual lobbying revenues higher than $10 million, a group that includes only about 25 lobbying shops.

The firm’s lobbying revenues have climbed more than 400 percent since Brownstein Hyatt & Farber accrued $2.2 million in 2000, according to figures from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Alfred Mottur, who was named managing partner of the Washington office in 2003 after three years at the firm, said that Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s 2006 performance was no surprise to them. Despite the firm’s extraordinary growth during a bad year for the lobbying industry, Mottur indicated that they view the progress as the result of planning and execution of their business strategy.

“We’ve sort of reached critical mass,” said Mottur, who came to Brownstein Hyatt & Farber from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld after a stint as senior counsel to then-Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.).

Mottur said the growth was the product of cultivating ongoing relationships with clients along with an aggressive push to expand into new lines of business by hiring lobbyists with expertise and connections.

Brownstein Hyatt & Farber maintained a successful practice in areas such as telecommunications, media and appropriations, Mottur said, but has been intent on branching out while continuing to grow its ongoing lines of business. More than half of the firm’s existing clients have increased their retainers in the past several years, Mottur said.

“We’re always adding new areas,” Mottur said. The firm’s roster of principle lobbyists has doubled to 14 over the last three to four years while its stable of clients has grown from 34 to 51 since the beginning of 2004. Mottur cited the firm’s signings of Johnson & Johnson and U.S. Airways last year as illustrations of its entry into new sectors.

Among the lobbyists who have joined Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s lobbying practice since 2005, Mottur cited two who have had a significant impact.

Makan Delrahim joined the firm in the summer of 2005 from the Justice Department, where he was a deputy assistant attorney general in its antitrust division. Delrahim previously served as staff director and chief counsel to then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Prior to joining Hatch’s staff, Delrahim worked for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the National Institutes of Health, as well as Patton Boggs.

Delrahim’s presence has enabled Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to tap into the lucrative practice of lobbying on intellectual property, antitrust, competition and high-technology areas, Mottur said. The firm has since hired some of Delrahim’s former associates.

The firm bolstered its presence in the energy sector by bringing aboard Kyle Simpson early last year. Simpson left the lobbying shop he founded in 1998, Morgan Meguire, to join Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Simpson held senior positions in the Department of Energy during the Clinton administration and has private-sector experience with energy companies.

Another vital component to Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s plans to expand its energy business was the relocation of Bruce Thompson from the firm’s Denver headquarters to its D.C. office. In addition to working for private energy companies, Thompson served as chief of staff to then-Rep. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who is now the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Although Mottur highlighted these personnel changes, he emphasized that the firm does not view its 2006 growth as purely the product of the hiring of additional lobbyists. Mottur estimated that even without the new lobbyists, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s lobbying revenues last year would have reached approximately $8 million.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck also is employing a common business strategy for law firm-based lobbying practices in Washington by leveraging its government-relations services to attract clients for its legal services, and vice versa.

To that end, the firm announced last week that it has hired Alexander Dahl and James Flood as litigators attached to its D.C.-based lobbying practice. The two former federal prosecutors both have Senate Judiciary Committee experience: Dahl for Hatch and Flood for Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

-------------------------

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

Don't forget to read all of today's VA News Flashes (click here)

Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage

email Larry

(go back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page)

VA Watchdog Stuff
cups, hats, shirts
click here to
support the site