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About
Lobbying
 First,
we consider lobbying and other government relations work to be
a very legitimate and necessary part of the governmental process.
Moreover, decisions at the U.S. Capitol, state capitols, various
departments, and county courthouses now clearly tend to have far
more frequent direct and lasting positive or negative impacts
on many organizations than ever before. Thus, organizations must
have effective government relations representation in order to
compete effectively and to protect their vital interests.- Today's government
climate is far less responsive to "back-room deals"
and last minute "quick fixes." Organizations' "business"
with the government, at all levels, must be approached in a more
sophisticated and business-like manner. This type of work is usually
best handled by persons who specialize in legislative and government
relations work and who have good relationships with Republican
and Democratic elected officials, their staffs and departmental
officials. Typically, this requires developing a carefully planned,
well organized and ongoing government affairs program that utilizes
highly skilled professionals who have broad substantive and political
resources and experiences. Such a program, for example, usually
includes establishing a careful monitoring system to provide "early
warning" of potential actions, and then having the know-how
and resources to affirmatively influence the government's actions
from the beginning of the decision-making process.
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Our lobbying practice has put us in close
and frequent contact with virtually all major committees of
the Georgia State Legislature as well as many of the county
government officials across the state. Thus, for example, we
work with committees having jurisdiction over appropriations,
commerce, energy, environmental matters, health care, financial
services, natural resources, taxation, trade, telecommunications
and transportation policy. In addition, we have excellent working
relationships with the key Senate Rules Committee.
- While our firm has
strong capabilities, we recognize that in today's complex government
environment, no single firm can always have the internal resources
to effectively solve every problem that might arise for its clients.
Thus, whenever we believe that a client's interests can be furthered
by having an issue handled by another lawyer or lobbyist, we have
no hesitancy in urging our client to retain another party to work
on a particular problem or to join in a team effort to deal with
the problem.
- Our general approach seeks to be more
"inter-active" and "pro-active" than many
government relations representatives. We have frequent interaction
with our clients, and insist on having regular and candid communication
with a designated person or persons in the client's organization.
It is essential for us to understand each client's basic operations
and how federal actions might affect those interests. Moreover,
we believe that it is equally important that clients are kept
currently advised of our various actions on their behalf, including
specifically what we are doing, with whom and why. Our firm's
perspective also tends to be pro-active, being involved in issues
from the outset and actively advocating the client's views.
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