Shareholders and customers increasingly expect corporate leaders to be more active in political and policy debates. As they do so, companies find themselves calling on experienced counsel to help them deal with the legal dimensions of political controversies and to defend their interests in charged circumstances. We are best known for representing Fortune 500 corporations in a wide range of matters affecting their federal, state, and local political engagement and government relations strategies. 

Counseling at the intersection of tax, campaign finance, and lobbying, Perkins Coie helps guide tax-exempt organizations, including trade associations, charities and foundations, social welfare groups, and political organizations, through the complex regulations governing political activity. We help tax-exempt entities organize efficiently to achieve policy or political objectives and comply with both tax and campaign finance laws and regulations, as well as the wide range of other laws affecting their activities. Our guidance to clients also includes navigating the sometimes-treacherous rules surrounding lobbying, campaign finance, and ethics issues. We also help establish and advise 527 organizations. 

Our counsel includes a range of areas that overlap federal procurements/grants and political law issues, informed by the knowledge of our government contracts lawyers. Specifically, we advise clients on compliance with gift-giving rules, contingent fee restrictions, and appropriate uses of federal funds received under grants and federal procurement contracts. We also have helped clients navigate agency-specific rules in these particular areas.

Representing investment firms and their principals, we advise on the implications of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) rules imposing industry-specific “pay to play” restrictions. This includes addressing the legality of specific proposed political contributions and, in the event of an inadvertent contribution that exceeds the threshold, negotiating the mission-critical SEC exemptive application process. We also design and implement compliance programs for investment advisers, including advising on when their bids to manage government pension assets implicate local lobbying provisions.

Politics and political law extend beyond Washington, D.C., and the toughest litigation often happens at the state and local level. Recognizing that, our practice includes lawyers in offices across the country, including Chicago, Denver, Madison, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle, advising on political engagement and representing organizations and voters in high-stakes litigation nationwide.