Bracewell & Giuliani and Duane Morris restructure to separate lobbying groups

The lobbying practice groups of Bracewell & Giuliani and Duane Morris are forming separate business units. The restructuring efforts will assure the groups an increased capacity for self-governance and quick decision making, as well as permitting non-lawyers to have an equity stake in the business. Bracewell’s new subsidiary unit, the Policy Resolution Group, will offer its 15 professionals (about half of whom are not lawyers) an equity stake in the firm, while Duane Morris’ new group, Duane Morris Government Strategies will combine lobbyists from the law firm’s government affairs practice and those of Pittsburgh-based GSP Consulting. Restructuring into a subsidiary “allows a better recruiting story for non-lawyers because it provides a career path they can’t get at a law firm,” said Ivan Adler, a headhunter for lawyers and lobbyists at the executive search firm McCormick Group. “It allows them an actual career track that’s tougher to do as a non-lawyer within a law firm. It also typically allows non-lawyers to get paid more.”

Bracewell & Giuliani and Duane Morris restructure to separate lobbying groups washingtonpost.com Wed, Dec 28, 2011