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Experience and Credibility
We understand how governments work, and what makes them work well for our clients. Virtually all of us have significant government experience in the legislative or executive branch. Among our ranks are professionals who have federal government service as:
§ U.S. ambassadors to the Dominican Republic and Mexico;
§ U.S. Congressmen (with service as chair of the House Budget Committee);
§ Senior counsel to senators, representatives, and congressional committees, including legislators holding such key positions as Assistant Leader and Majority Whip;
§ Members of the U.S. Foreign Service and Senior U.S. State Department officials (including the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asian Affairs and the Deputy Director of the Law of the Sea negotiations);
§ Senior attorneys with the U.S. Department Commerce, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Administration, Federal Trade Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and many other executive agencies;
§ General Counsels to the Central Intelligence Agency and the Immigration and Naturalization Service; and
§ Senior staff members at the White House and for the heads of Cabinet-level departments.
A considerable part of our government and regulatory counsel involves state and local governments, and there too our attorneys have a background of extensive service that translates into effective access and impact for our clients.
In California and New York, perhaps the nation’s two key states for public policy complexity and innovation, we have extensive executive and legislative experience. California members of our team have occupied such positions as Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, Deputy Attorney General and Counsel to the Public Utilities Commission. In New York our attorneys have served as Solicitor General and Assistant Counsel to the Governor, and have been elected to the State Assembly (rising there to the position of Minority Leader).
We have an equally impressive record at the local government level, with attorneys who have served as city attorney for a number of communities (including as Corporation Counsel of New York City), as Commissioner of a New York City agency and as general counsels of major public authorities. And our local government leadership is not limited to California and New York – for example one of our team members served as an at-large member of the District of Columbia City Council for eighteen years and was Acting Chair of the Council.
The depth of knowledge that we bring as veterans in a wide array of critical industries and issues complements our public policy experience. Our attorneys have served as senior executives, general counsel and board members at companies in such industries as energy, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, real estate and construction, and numerous other key sectors. Our record of leadership also encompasses numerous nonprofit organizations, privately owned companies, and trade and professional associations. We are lawyers, government leaders and businesspeople. The credibility and experience of our attorneys create an impressive network of working relationships in these three spheres of activity that combine to the benefit of our clients. We know the environment in which they operate, understand what drives their business decisions, and know how to facilitate those decisions in the public policy arena.
Business Focus and Creative Solutions
Unlike many law firms, we do more than open doors. We stay involved in the issues that are important to you, helping to shape critical events and decisions that affect your interests. Our professionals find unique and often unprecedented solutions by designing advocacy strategies, directing lobbying of elected and appointed officials and orchestrating coalitions of business, labor, not-for-profit entities, community-based organizations and other “grassroots” groups to support lobbying initiatives.
Our goal is to be the link between government and your business. The actions of global, federal, state and local decision makers regularly impact your sourcing and marketing decisions, investment opportunities, sales prospects, business plan, contracts, cost of capital, operating expenses, tax obligations, corporate structure, and compliance activities. We help successful businesses understand this environment and to manage public policy change by anticipating it, creating it and making it work for them. We are creative problem solvers who work in partnership with you to achieve the best possible results.
You can rely on Manatt government practice professionals to:
§ Assess key political risk and opportunity factors;
§ Engage the interest and support of key U.S. federal, state and local officials in your business objectives;
§ Secure international, federal, state or local funding for your projects;
§ Protect your business against adverse regulation, legislation or policy actions that could adversely impact your business;
§ Advocate legislative, regulatory or policy actions that can improve the terms on which you do business;
§ Advise you regarding anticipated regulatory, legislative, and other important emerging developments, and help you assess and respond to the business impact of these changes;
§ Facilitate your pursuit of competitive opportunities and ensure that you comply with all applicable laws and regulations;
§ Safeguard your vital interests in key business concerns such as land use, environmental compliance, tax policy and employer/employee relationships; and
§ Establish and maintain strategic partnerships with key public relations experts, grassroots coalitions, media consultants and community organizations to manage and promote your objectives and your organization effectively.
Legislative Advocacy
Our attorneys have represented clients on legislation in every major committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, and have demonstrated their ability to work with the Republican and Democratic leaderships and members of both bodies. We have first-hand experience as members of Congress, as senior staff advisors to Senators and Congressmen, and as counsel to the House and Senate Energy Committees, Senate Government Affairs Committee and other legislative groups on the Hill. Because we have served on both sides of the aisle and have maintained strong relationships in Congress and with key players in the Administration, our ability to advance your interests in Congress is unsurpassed.
We have a solid record of success at securing legislation and federal appropriations on behalf of clients, including millions of dollars in funding on a wide variety of transportation projects as well as water, housing, and other areas of concern to business and regional interests. We have represented a number of public sector entities in dealing with Congress and understand the needs and pressures confronting public organizations and elected officials. Whether the need is to address a competitive imbalance (such as our work to strengthen the anti-piracy laws against trade counterfeiters), to secure regulatory relief through legislation, or to advocate new programs for expanding the transportation and housing infrastructure, Manatt professionals have earned respect and attention for client positions from members in both houses and both parties of Congress.
Administrative Advocacy
Manatt’s public policy advocacy is an integral part of virtually every area of business law in which we practice. Local, state, federal and international regulations and legal requirements are pervasive in every industry, and we have the governmental understanding and clout to defend the competitive interests of our clients. Among our primary areas of regulatory counsel are the following industries and concerns:
Advertising
Our attorneys, who include former senior legal counsel with the Federal Trade Commission, frequently appear on behalf of clients before the courts, the FTC and other federal agencies and state attorneys general to answer allegations of false advertising, unfair competition, produce disparagement and abusive telemarketing and email practices:
Antitrust
We have full capabilities to deal with Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission inquiries and complaints under the Sherman, Clayton and Robinson-Patman antitrust laws, and effectively represent clients in administrative hearings. We also guide mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures through the Hart-Scott-Rodino review process at the FTC and DOJ.
Banking and financial institutions
Financial institution operations are subjected to intense scrutiny by government regulators for their compliance with a wide range of laws and regulations covering everything from lending policies to strength of financial reserves. Manatt attorneys are in frequent contact with financial institution agencies in many states, and constantly interact on compliance and expansion matters with federal regulators at the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Home Loan Bank Board and numerous other agencies. Our lawyers also represent clients before the federal and state examiners, agency staff attorneys and other regulators that enforce consumer credit laws.
Business crimes
Manatt is nationally known for skillfully advising companies and individuals facing criminal and regulatory scrutiny as targets of investigations conducted by federal or state governments or other regulatory agencies. We also help our clients implement programs and standards to avoid, detect or resolve criminal business conduct by making sure that they meet the requirements of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines for Organizational Defendants and that reflect the criteria considered by the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division when deciding to bring charges against a corporation.
Corporate finance
Manatt helps publicly held clients comply with all federal and state securities laws. When companies go public through initial public offerings of securities, we handle all the reporting issues that arise during the IPO registration process with the Securities & Exchange Commission. We also help established public companies with all SEC reporting and disclosure requirements. On the broader issues of corporate governance, we ensure that the compliance programs of our clients conform to Sarbanes-Oxley certification procedures.
Employment and labor
We are capable of handling legal issues arising under virtually all state and federal labor and employment laws. Manatt attorneys regularly represent employers in administrative hearings and actions before the National Labor Relations Board, U.S. Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, state labor and employment agencies, U.S. Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Some of our attorneys, while serving with the DOJ, NLRB, EEOC and various congressional committees, participated in the drafting of many labor laws and regulations currently in effect.
Energy
The energy industry operates within a complex web of international, federal and state regulations, and Manatt is skilled at advocacy in every part of it. We handle a variety of matters before the U.S. Department of Energy, and for decades have represented clients in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pricing, restructuring and deregulation matters. Our attorneys also prepare electric generating facility siting applications, and secure related licenses and permits from state regulators.
Environmental
Manatt’s environmental lawyers have the practical experience to give sound counsel on the full range of compliance issues involving federal and state environmental laws. Members of our team have worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Interior, have held senior environmental regulatory positions in California and other state governments, and have headed local planning commissions. We are skillful and effective at representing clients in administrative proceedings before these regulatory authorities, and address environmental issues on behalf of our clients before Congressional committees and state legislatures.
Healthcare
Manatt attorneys are well qualified to advise healthcare providers on their responsibilities regarding the Stark Law, antikickback statutes, fraud and abuse safe harbors, Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigations and other enforcement investigations and proceedings. We also help on a variety of specialized industry issues, including federal and state licensure and certification requirements for long-term care providers, representing providers before Medicare and Medicaid agencies in reimbursement disputes, and properly constructing provider contracting arrangement as well as mergers and acquisitions to comply with antitrust guidelines.
Insurance
Manatt insurance attorneys have the contacts and experience to manage state and federal regulatory relationships effectively. We have established excellent working relationships with most state insurance departments, and – combined with our strong public advocacy presence in Washington, DC – can assist insurers with such regulatory issues as holding company matters, merger approval, investment activity, agent licensing, and consumer and regulatory complaints.
International trade and advocacy
We represent clients in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings before the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission and NAFTA panels. Much of our work focuses on client advocacy before the U.S. Customs Service disputes concerning classification and valuation of imported merchandise. We handle similar issues for our clients before such international bodies as the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) and World Customs Organization (“WCO”). Our attorneys also offer a full range of other counseling services related to international issues, from promoting policy and legislative initiatives by foreign governments to helping clients access business expansion and trade incentives offered by agencies like the World Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Real estate and land use
We have the public policy skills and contacts to help real estate developers secure financing from numerous local, state and federal programs for their commercial and residential developments. Once projects are under way, our attorneys represent private and public landholders and developers before city councils, county boards, state planning commissions and other local, state and federal administrative bodies. We help them obtain permits and other entitlements, including general plan amendments, specific plans, zone changes, environmental compliance documentation, tract maps and development agreements. If projects hit a snag, we vigorously represent our clients in defense of project approvals and in actions challenging adverse administrative actions.
Taxation
Our tax attorneys advance client interests in a wide range of regulatory and compliance issues. We represent them in tax controversies before the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities, and work behind the scenes to comment on and influence proposed changes in the tax code. Among the many specialized tax issues we handle are certification and renewal of tax-exempt status for non-profit organizations, structure and compliance issues of tax-sensitive investments such as real estate investment trusts, representation of employers on ERISA and similar matters involving qualified retirement and benefit plans, and assistance with international tax compliance issues.
Technology
We represent emerging technology companies on a wide range of issues involving Internet privacy and the implementing regulations of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. We also advise clients on regulatory developments involving email spam (including the FTC’s enforcement of the CAN-SPAM Act), online obscenity, encryption, online gambling, electronic copyright infringement, Internet taxation, universal high-speed Internet access, and cable open access requirements. Manatt is a member of TechNet, the Silicon Valley-based advocacy group, and a founding member of CapNet, a bipartisan Washington, D.C.-based technology advocacy group.
Telecommunications
Manatt represents telecommunications clients before the Federal Communications Commission and the congressional oversight committees in the U.S. House and Senate that establish the FCC’s operational framework. Our clients include major domestic and international long-distance and local telephone service carriers and providers of telephone and data services. We currently represent clients with matters pending before the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Cable Services Bureau.
Transportation
We are a leader in the representation of governmental and private sector transportation clients, with particular skill at helping governmental entities develop and finance major transportation infrastructure projects working with the Department of Transportation and Congress. For example, we represent companies in connection with the Northeast Corridor high speed project, including equipment acquisition and finance, long term maintenance arrangements, and claims resolution. Our attorneys have also worked with local transit authorities, such as LA MTA, Boston MBTA and others. We have also represented rail authorities in the United Kingdom and Taiwan.
Government Contracts
The government contracts lawyers at Manatt are a strategic legal and business resource for individuals and companies that market and provide products and services to international, federal, state and local government units. We also help government purchasers procure goods and services more effectively. Our business clients include large corporations, small and emerging companies, trade associations – all in a wide variety of industries, including computers, telecommunications, construction, leasing, weapons systems, and various manufacturing and service activities.
Government contracting is a complex and competitive arena that involves not only bidding and supply issues, but disputes that can mean civil or criminal litigation. We assist clients at all stages of the contracting process, advising them on:
§ Bid and proposal preparation;
§ Contract negotiations;
§ Award protests and defenses;
§ Contract administration;
§ Cost and pricing issues;
§ Claims preparation;
§ Litigation of contract disputes and appeals;
§ Internal compliance programs and audits;
§ Procurement fraud issues;
§ General business issues involving commercial contracts, business combinations, taxation, employment law, environmental compliance and similar issues; and
§ Legislative and executive advocacy.
Award Protests
We frequently help clients bring, and defend themselves against, protests over the propriety of the government’s contract award process. We represent clients in bid protest actions before various federal agencies, including the United States General Accounting Office and the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals. We have also litigated federal contract bid disputes in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, various Federal District Courts and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Each state also has its award protest process and we are experienced in a variety of venues. In California, for example, our attorneys have handled protests before the California State Board of Equalization, the California Department of Health, the California Board of Control, the City and County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Airport, the Port of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In New York we have been engaged by clients in bid protest matters before a number of City and State agencies.
Contract Administration, Claims and Disputes
Once the government contract is awarded, we help clients resolve contract interpretation and performance issues. When unable to resolve disputes through negotiations, we pursue claims and appeals through contract litigation before various Boards of Contract Appeals, the Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and various state boards and courts.
Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence
When clients are subject to foreign ownership, control or influence, we help them maintain their security clearances for classified and nuclear sensitive contracts by using board resolutions, voting trusts and proxy agreements to properly shield the foreign influence to the satisfaction of the United States government.
Compliance Audits
Our attorneys encourage a proactive approach by conducting internal legal investigations and compliance audits to avoid or resolve problems before they become crises for our clients.
Procurement Fraud
Working with Manatt’s business crimes attorneys, wee represent government contractors and individuals in civil and criminal negotiations and litigation arising out of Inspector General and grand jury investigations, as well as False Claims Act qui tam actions.
Other Substantive Areas
We have additional experience in such specialized government contracting issues as:
§ Computer and telecommunications contracting;
§ Transportation service and equipment contracting;
§ Small business and small disadvantaged business contracting;
§ Build to suit leases;
§ Electrical utility contracting;
§ GSA schedule contracting;
§ Privatization;
§ Novation agreements;
§ Assignment of claims matters; and
§ Suspensions and debarments.
State and Local Government
Manatt is one of the few law firms with an extensive state and local government law practice in addition to its federal advocacy. Our government and regulatory team includes professionals who have held or currently hold state and local elective or appointive offices in jurisdictions throughout the United States. When combined with our experience at the federal level, that makes us uniquely positioned to address client concerns in the most appropriate governmental forum.
Our efforts on your behalf at the state and local level can be legislative or administrative, proactive or remedial, as circumstances warrant. We use our extensive contacts to stay on top of proposed laws and regulations, advising clients of those that could have a direct impact on their business and helping present testimony and other position statements to inform and influence the right centers of authority. We make sure our clients comply with agency decisions, opinions, rules and regulations, providing the proper focus to balance federal, state and local authority and obligations. Our attorneys also advise on state and local government contracting processes. And our land use and environmental practice is concentrated at the state and local levels.
We regularly work for the passage, modification or defeat of legislation throughout the country, including the legislatures of California, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. We are intimately involved in all aspects of the municipal and regional governmental processes in Los Angeles, New York City and the District of Columbia, as well as in Baltimore, Philadelphia and numerous other regional and local governmental bodies.
Political and Election Law
Manatt has an extensive nationwide practice advising the direct participant in the political process. Our attorneys counsel elected officials, candidates, political committees, business entities, trade associations, individual contributors, and similar players on the rules and compliance requirements in the business of politics.
Election Law Compliance
We advise candidates for office on compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act and the complex array of other federal laws, state laws, and local ordinances regulating campaign contributions and reporting requirements. Our attorneys have represented presidential candidates, as well as candidates for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and various state offices. We also help state and federal political committees, business entities, trade associations, and individuals comply with the various laws regulating contributions and reporting, as well as related activities that involve lobbying, political ethics, conflicts of interest and foreign agent registration.
Investigations and Enforcement
Our attorneys represent candidates, elected and appointed officials, and individuals who are subject to investigations and enforcement actions by:
§ The Federal Elections Commission;
§ State regulatory bodies;
§ Criminal agencies, such as district attorneys and city prosecutors; and
§ Legislative bodies, including the U.S. House of Representatives.
We also advise public officials about their obligations under applicable ethics laws and help them respond to charges of public corruption. Such controversies often make national headlines. For example, our attorneys played key roles in the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton (advising the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee and the U.S. Senate as well as the White House Counsel’s Office) and in the 2004 impeachment of three-term Connecticut Governor John Rowland (serving as Special Counsel to the Select Committee charged by the state’s House of Representatives with determining whether to recommend articles of impeachment).
Election Litigation
Our litigation and political practices converge when we represent candidates, committees, and others accused of violating election and campaign law. We represent clients in litigation over the legality of contributions, the propriety of reporting, access to documents, ballot access and designation, and reapportionment. We also have represented clients in recounts and election contests.
We are often called upon to handle high-profile disputes. For example Manatt undertook an aggressive defense of a number of institutions and individuals in connection with criminal and Congressional investigations alleging improprieties in campaign finance during the 1996 elections. Our attorneys developed a variety of defense strategies that led to favorable outcomes ranging from no charges to resolution and settlement.
Initiatives
As part of our grassroots political efforts, we advise committees formed to support and oppose ballot initiatives. Our attorneys have drafted many of these proposals, analyze the propriety of initiatives proposed by others, advise committees on contribution and reporting rules, and even help prepare voter information materials in support of our clients’ positions. We have also brought and defended challenges to local and statewide initiatives, handling the arguments at both the trial and appellate court levels.
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