Ryan Ray
Tallahassee-founded law firm Rutledge Ecenia had a productive second quarter of 2015 – according to estimates based on recently submitted compensation reports, the firm took in around $555,000 between April 1 and June 30.
That sum broke down to $295,000 from 33 executive branch lobbying clients and $260,000 from 34 legislative clients.
HCA Healthcare – once run by Gov. Rick Scott, speaking of executives – brought in the largest amount of compensation during Q2, paying the firm between $30,000 – $39,999 for statehouse advocacy and $20,000 – $29,999 for regulatory lobbying for a combined approximate total of $60,000 in consulting fees.
A second tier of clients in terms of compensation paid between $10,000 – $19,999 for both aspects of governmental lobbying, namely:
- Florida Bar, Family Law Section
- The Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects
- Fronton Holdings
- Hartman & Tyner
- Miami-Dade County
- MillerCoors,
- Pinnacle Housing Group
- St. Petersburg Kennel Club, and
- The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Melbourne Kennel Club and Responsible Vendors, Inc. also ponied up an estimated $15,000 each for executive branch representation.
Other significant clients who employed Rutledge Ecenia’s services during the most recent reporting quarter included Kraft Foods, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and T-Mobile USA.
Led by name partners Gary Rutledge and Stephen Ecenia – who founded the firm in 1992 – the firm’s six-deep advocacy team was comprised by lobbyists Michael Barry, Jonathan Costello, Diana Ferguson and Gabriel Warren.
State law requires lobbying firms to submit compensation reports quarterly. They are permitted in most cases to simply report an approximate range of client compensation — e.g. $1 – $9,999 – in lieu of the specific dollar amount.
