General Overview

WHY ALSTON & BIRD?

Senator Bob Dole	Senator Tom Daschle

Distinguished attorneys and advisors with lifetimes of experience in how Washington works are the core of the legislative and public policy practice. The group includes two former U.S. Senators, Bob Dole (R-KS) and Tom Daschle (D-SD), each of whom served as their party’s Senate leader. They are joined in the firm’s Washington office by former senior officials from every administration since Ronald Reagan was inaugurated in January 1981, with service in the White House, both houses of Congress, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, State, Treasury, the Office of the Trade Representative, the National Security Agency and a panoply of regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of Thrift Supervision, among others.

EXPERIENCE

Alston & Bird’s Legislative & Public Policy attorneys provide a full range of services to help our clients participate in and shape public policy debates before, rather than after, decisions are made, as well as to provide guidance in how to respond to decisions once they are made. We are among the most visible and respected voices in political Washington on global business strategies, privacy and data security, tax policy and regulation and telecommunications. We represent clients before Congress, the executive branch and regulatory agencies in Washington and throughout the country at the state and local level. We are frequently consulted by Congress on legislative matters, testify on a wide range of issues and prepare our clients when they are called upon to testify. We work directly with members and with staff on the Hill and with senior officials in federal agencies to help craft legislative and regulatory language that match the needs of our clients with the other relevant stakeholders.

We know how to advocate effectively on behalf of our clients in every relevant forum, crafting and implementing legislative strategies to achieve practical results.  We undertake our work by utilizing our substantive knowledge and a wide range of relationships we have developed with government and agency officials, members of Congress and their staff, think tanks and institutes, academics, and the media that cover the policy makers.

COMPANIES, COALITIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS

Alston & Bird’s Legislative & Public Policy practice is built upon the strong knowledge base, substantive expertise and political acumen of our attorneys and public policy specialists. We provide Washington representation for U.S. and foreign companies, associations, coalitions and other entities. We have specialists from many fields who work together to assist our corporate and other clients to achieve public policy goals.  We represent major industry associations, investment and brokerage houses, banks and other financial institutions, health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, telecommunications providers, manufacturers, transportation companies and domestic and foreign companies of virtually every size and shape throughout the global economy.