Peter SchorschNo one has ever denied that the lobbying industry is a zero-sum game.
When a bill passes or dies, some lobbyists win, some lose. Refrains of “Just wait until next year” are as familiar to the profession as they are in major league sports.
Likewise, when a majority of one firm’s roster decides to cross the street to another shop, one firm suffers, while another expands.
That appears to be the case with Pennington P.A. and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney (formerly Fowler White) because six Pennington lobbyists are leaving the law and legal firm to become part of BIR.
Capitol veterans Mike Harrell, Mallory Harrell, Jim DeBeaugrine, Doug Bell, Marnie George and Tim Stanfield are all making the transition. They will be in place at Buchanan Ingersoll by March 1 in advance of the 2015 legislative session.
The architect of the deal is John “Mac” Stipanovich, the oft-quoted lobbyist who has been with Fowler White/Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney since completing his service as chief of staff to then-Gov. Bob Martinez.
Stipanovich said he was determined to re-energize and expand BIR’s governmental affairs practice, so he reached out to longtime friend Harrell for suggestions on which lobbyists to bring aboard.
“Yes,” said Harrell, who took Stipanovich’s inquiry as an offer. Harrell said the opportunity to work with Stipanovich, his friend for decades, was like a “homecoming.”
Just how close are Stipanovich and the Harrells? Well, their son is named after him, if that gives any indication. But Stipanovich is also close to other members of the Pennington-to-BIR team. He said he’s known Bell’s father, Sam, and his mother-in-law, Betty Castor, for decades. Stanfield’s father was Stipanovich’s best friend during law school.
The personnel move, however, isn’t just about family ties. It’s likely a 60 percent increase in statewide business for BIR as Harrell and Co. are expected to bring with them most, if not all, of their books of business. Harrell says they will still share some clients with Pennington P.A. because it’s “the right thing to do.”
What does the balance sheet look like? Mallory Harrell is an expert in procurement; DeBeaugrine specializes in appropriations, disability and aging issues, health and long term care, Medicaid, and criminal and civil justice; Bell is an A-lister; and Stanfield has extensive experience representing client’s before the Office of Insurance Regulation.
Add them all to BIR’s existing team — Keith Arnold, Brett Bacot, Jim Magill, Kim McGlynn, Linda Shelley and Stipanovich — and, suddenly Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is one of the largest firms on Adams Street.
But the numbers and dollar figures appear to be secondary to what drove this deal.
“It’s a family affair,” Stipanovich said. “We’re a band of brothers.”
