Drew Wilson
Ballard Partners is opening its first office on the West Coast office in Los Angeles.
The new office will be led by Wendy Bruget, who is joining the firm as a partner and will lead the opening of the Los Angeles office. Jason Ziven will serve as senior adviser and firm partner Tola Thompson and strategic partner Tom Cerra will also offer client services from the new office.
“Opening an office in Los Angeles will allow our firm’s exceptional partners to better serve the firm’s 500-plus clients,” said Brian Ballard, the firm’s president and founder. “We are proud to enter the California market with our first office in Los Angeles. Wendy, Jason, Tola and Tom are the dream team for us to establish our initial presence in California.”
Bruget has been a government relations professional and union organizer in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. For the past seven years, she has served as the Director of Government Affairs at the largest independently owned waste and recycling company in Los Angeles County.
In that role, she led the firm’s public policy, community affairs, elected official partnerships and political committee. She previously worked 11 years at the prominent lobbying firm Berghoff & Associates, and as a union organizer with the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs for two years.
“The firm’s national reputation and unwavering commitment to exceptional client service was incredibly attractive to me,” Bruget said. “I am delighted to be joining Ballard Partners
and look forward to serving the firm’s clients in California.”
Ziven is an attorney at Sanders Roberts. His practice focuses on all aspects of business litigation, and his clients include Fortune 100 companies, high-profile entertainers and public figures. He also advises musicians, writers, actors and directors on entertainment transactions.
Before joining Sanders Roberts, he served as Director of Business Development at Mills Entertainment, a division of Creative Artists Agency. While at Mills, Ziven negotiated multiple licensing and touring agreements with the largest entertainment companies and globally recognized.
Ballard Partners has been one of the largest lobbying firms in the Sunshine State for years and has quickly become one of the largest in Washington since it expanded its operation to the nation’s capital five years ago. Two of the firm’s top consultants in D.C., Adam Goodman and Justin Sayfie, also recently launched a podcast covering politics, government, economics, technology and culture.
Ballard Partners entered the international governmental relations arena two years ago, setting up an office in Israel and, later, Turkey in addition to representing multiple foreign governments in Washington.
