Overview
For more than a century, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell has had a singular focus on our clients and their goals. Our long-established tradition of responsive, personalized service and excellence in meeting the needs of our clients has made us one of the nation’s top law firms and political lobbying powerhouses. Our solid reputation and our ability to deliver the highest quality work are what we bring to city halls and state capitols across the nation and to Washington, D.C.
In today's business environment, individuals, companies and organizations must understand, navigate and shape public policy, both locally and federally. Locke Lord will advance your interests, prevent problems before they develop and provide you the information you need to take timely action. We have a proven record of guiding clients through the government maze to achieve their objectives by providing a full array of legislative, regulatory and legal services. Our attorneys and non-attorney professionals form a unique and diverse public law team with extensive political contacts at every level of government and the knowledge of how public processes work.
As federal, state and local governments become more sophisticated, the management of issues grows more complex. Elected officials and legislative staffs are expanding in number and are increasingly affecting businesses, organizations and individuals. The wisest approach in dealing with the government is to be proactive, with a constant presence among officials and vigilant cultivation of those empowered to affect your interests. Our physical presence in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Sacramento and Washington, D.C. ensures Locke Lord is at the forefront of political, economic and government issues.
Relationships, trust and reputation for integrity are the foundation for our proactive counsel and are the keys to Locke Lord’s public law strength. Our professionals have first-hand experience with public positions and organizations and their positions have included the following, to name just a few:
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White House Counsel
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Assistant to the U.S. President
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Chief of Staff, U.S. Senator
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Chief of Staff, U.S. Congressman
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Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee
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Deputy Assistant to the U.S. President in the Carter White House
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Director, Texas Office of State-Federal Relations under then-Governor George W. Bush
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Illinois State Senator
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Texas State Senator
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Chief of Staff, Texas Senator
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Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross
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Chairman, Texas Youth Commission
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Chairman, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
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Interim Executive Director, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority
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Chairman, Greater Houston Partnership
Whether you’re an individual, a business, a non-profit or a public agency, it's vital you know how to properly deal with the government -- and Locke Lord can help shape the future of your endeavor or organization. With the firm's expansion to Washington, D.C., an emphasis on teamwork and the ability to offer backup support in communications, ethics and campaign finance compliance and other areas of more specialized experience, Capitol Inside wrote that Locke Lord "can tout a full-package approach for clients from the Gulf Coast to the Potomac.” The Web site political newsletter called our firm "the most ambitious law firm in Texas in terms of the reputation it wants to foster and the clout it aspires to wield with its lobby practice at the state, federal and local levels.”
Federal
Locke Lord Strategies®, our Washington, D.C. related entity, is a public affairs team of proactive and bipartisan problem solvers. Each member of our team has extensive political and public policy experience, and our unique relationships provide clients with unparalleled access at the highest level of the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch, including federal departments and regulatory agencies. Our professionals are recognized for their strategic and direct counsel, distinctive style, comprehensive tact, proactive determination, discretion, and most importantly, their ability to get the job done.
Our team in Washington, D.C. is composed of seasoned and experienced practitioners who understand intimately how the legislative process works. They have significant and meaningful relationships with key Members and staff in the U.S. Congress as well as with decision makers in the Executive Branch. Our primary goal is to protect and enhance our clients’ interests, while helping to shape and determine federal public policy.
Our Washington strategy encompasses the following examples:
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Understanding the evolving needs and interests of Members, Committees and their staffs
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Helping to craft a clear and effective message for all constituencies and stakeholders
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Developing a program of activities for clients to interact effectively with elected officials and their staffs
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Educating Members and their staffs about the needs of our clients
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Researching, advising and assisting clients to determine how best to proactively shape legislative proposals that could impact their businesses today and tomorrow
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Providing time-sensitive legislative and regulatory information
The federal government’s influence and impact are pervasive. By helping our clients manage their day-to-day government affairs agenda, we add value to their business interests and to their plans for future growth.
We also work with federal regulators in Washington, D.C., and their regional representatives, to ensure our clients’ interests are advanced and their voices heard. We combine our substantive experience with knowledge of agency practices and personnel to help clients find the right answer to complex regulatory problems.
State
In February 2007, for the fourth consecutive year, Locke Lord was named the Top Law Firm Lobby Practice in Texas by Capitol Inside. The widely read publication said our firm has boasted "the top lobby law firm practice in Texas for the past few years -- and it may be stronger now than ever." Locke Lord, the article said, "has become the model in Texas for lobby practices at law firms.”
Following the 78th, 79th and 80th Texas Legislative Sessions, Texas Lawyer ranked the firm's lobbying practice at the top of law firm lobbying practices based on lobby billings reported to the Texas Ethics Commission. Our broad and diverse team is thoroughly familiar with the Texas legislative process and has excellent relationships with state officials and legislators throughout Texas. During legislative sessions, our team is full-time in Austin assisting clients with their state government relations needs. During the interim, we are actively involved with interim committee charges and cultivating relationships for the next session.
Our attorneys are also active in Texas representing both government agencies and organizations that are adverse to government agencies in open meetings and public information related issues. In Texas, we counsel clients on proper subject matter for closed sessions, proper invocation of the “competitive issues” exception under Texas Senate Bill 7 (the electric deregulation bill) and proper postings for meetings and subject matter descriptions of issues to be considered. Our attorneys represent parties seeking documents from governmental entities. Likewise, on behalf of state and local governmental entities, we advise agencies on policies and procedures regarding responses to public information requests.
Our administrative/regulatory practice is integral to our state government public law practice. For those companies and organizations directly affected by state government activity, our attorneys are vigilant in cultivating support from those empowered to affect our clients’ interests in such areas as environmental law, utility regulation, transportation, health care, education and taxation. Our representation in front of key leaders at executive agencies is ongoing, and we work on critical matters during legislative sessions and in between, when important interim committee work is being done. We facilitate clients’ contacts with those who influence policy and oversee regulation of key industries.
With our broadly based practice we are able to assist companies having multi-state operations that face political hurdles, which can hamper or halt their growth. We work to prevent business strategy from being compromised because of conflicting state policies—this requires a comprehensive knowledge of the laws and regulations that govern how business gets done and lobbying skills.
For example, our team worked with Gulf States Toyota's General Counsel to design a comprehensive five-state government relations program. We handle Gulf States' lobbying of the Texas legislature, work with Texas administrative agencies and communicate on its behalf with the Texas congressional delegation. We helped our client form a team of lobbyists in the four remaining states, and we coordinate and monitor work done by them. Our focus is proactive identification and lobbying regarding any political challenges that might affect our client's business.
While Locke Lord's Texas experience dates back more than a century, the firm has expanded its knowledge, networks and experience in recent years to work with a broad range of state government entities across the country. Our familiarity with government organizations runs deep, and following are just some of the entities we work with (Texas entities unless otherwise indicated):
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Office of the Attorney General
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Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners
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Comptroller of Public Accounts
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General Land Office
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General Services Commission
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Health and Human Services Commission
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Louisiana Public Service Commission
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Legislative Budget Board
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New Mexico Real Estate Commission
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North Texas Tollway Authority (formerly the Texas Turnpike Authority)
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Public Utility Commission of Texas
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Office of the Secretary of State of Texas
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Railroad Commission of Texas
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State Office of Administrative Hearings
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State Securities Board
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Texas Board of Private Investigators & Private Security Agencies
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Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
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Texas Department of Banking
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Texas Department of Commerce
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Texas Department of Health and Human Services
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Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
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Texas Department of Insurance
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Texas Department of Mental Health & Mental Retardation
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Texas Department of Public Safety
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Texas Department of Transportation
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Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
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Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
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Texas Racing Commission
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Texas Real Estate Commission
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Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation
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Texas State Board of Public Accountancy
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Texas Water Development Board
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Texas Workforce Commission
Local
At the local level, our attorneys and professionals work with officials of all types of governmental bodies, including city, county or parish officials and members of special bodies, such as regional mobility agencies, water districts, river authorities, road districts and other political subdivisions. We represent clients in matters concerning land development, revitalization of urban areas, tax abatements, telecommunications tower siting, utility regulation, franchise rights, zoning and a myriad of other local government issues. We also develop private/public partnerships.
A good example of our experience at mobilizing local resources to accomplish a client goal is our effort to help the Houston Astros build a state-of-the-art baseball stadium in Houston, financed with public and private funds. To accomplish this, new legislation was required to authorize the City and County to create a Sports Authority and levy a tax on car rentals and hotel rooms. Our attorneys drafted and lobbied passage of this statewide legislation through the Texas Legislature in 1997.
We then participated in the negotiation of the development, construction and financing documents with the Sports Authority and obtained City and County approvals of the project. Passing the legislation and obtaining the local government approvals demanded an intricate knowledge of the legislative process and access to the decision makers. Structuring the agreements required legal acumen in real estate, construction, labor, bankruptcy and litigation. The result was the construction of Minute Maid Park, on time and on budget.