Election & Political Law

Capabilities

When an organization makes a decision to enter the political arena, significant liability can be avoided if potential risks are carefully mitigated. With a background in federal, state and municipal government, Leech Tishman’s Election & Political Law lawyer team has a keen understanding of the political landscape and process, regularly counseling corporations, trade associations, labor organizations, political action committees and individuals on all aspects of political law including campaign finance, lobbying, election law and ethics rules, and tax law.

Leech Tishman works closely with clients to ensure their political activities are conducted in compliance with the ever-changing rules governing the political process. Our team is committed to staying on top of new and proposed legislation in this field and can assist your organization in building internal compliance programs to protect you from violating legal requirements related to political/advocacy efforts.

Campaign Finance

  • Establishing and maintaining political action committees (PACs)
  • Preparing and reviewing Federal Election Commission (FEC) and state filings
  • Federal and state campaign finance reporting service for large PACs
  • Vetting corporate campaign contributions, reimbursed campaign contributions and gifts
  • Advising on corporate political activities including advertising & communications, travel and candidate events such as fundraisers or “meet and greets”
  • Counseling on required disclaimers
  • Representation during an enforcement action/audit
  • Implementation of internal compliance programs to avoid violations of federal, state and local election laws

Lobbying Services

  • Preparing/reviewing Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) registrations/filings
  • Calculating and reporting lobbying expenses using LDA or IRS method
  • Implementation of internal compliance programs to avoid violations of federal, state and local lobbying laws

Election Law & Ethics Rules

  • The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA)
  • The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA), as amended by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA)
  • Federal, state and local campaign finance, pay-to-play, lobbying, and ethics laws and rules
    • Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Rule G-37
    • SEC Rule 206(4)-5
    • Commodity Futures Trading Commission Rule 23.451
    • Proposed MSRB Rule G-42
    • Proposed SEC Rule 15Fh-6
  • Ethics rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate and Office of Government Ethics
  • The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)
  • The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
  • IRS provisions applicable to political law, including guidance relating to political activity by 501(c)(4) entities
  • Representation before the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the House and Senate Ethics Committees, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), and state agencies
  • Post-employment restrictions/”revolving door” laws
  • Congressional gift/travel rules
  • Drafting internal policies, reimbursement forms and employment contracts
  • Implementation of internal compliance programs to avoid violations of federal, state and local election laws/ethics rules

Tax Law

  • Compliance with IRS restrictions on political/lobbying activity including specific guidance for 501(c)(3) organizations
  • Restrictions on business expense deductions
  • Section 527 IRS disclaimer requirements for PACs, political parties and issue advocacy groups
  • IRS guidance on Congressional gift/travel rules
  • Implementation of internal compliance programs to avoid violations of federal, state and local tax laws