What do you call an unemployed lawyer?

Congressman.

What’s wrong with Lawyer jokes?

Lawyers don’t think they’re funny, and everyone else doesn’t think they’re jokes.

From late Nov. ’08 Inky article:

Wolf Block joins forces with a lobbying firm

As businesses from banks to car makers converge on Washington seeking financial aid, the Wolf Block law firm has announced plans to greatly expand its lobbying on behalf of companies and other interests fighting for a piece of the bailout.

The firm, which currently has a small lobbying staff in Washington, along with lobbyists in Harrisburg, Boston, New York and Wilmington, said it was affiliating with the American Continental Group, whose leadership includes David Urban, former chief of staff to Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.).

Under the arrangement, Wolf Block Public Strategies and American Continental would share fees and client referrals, said Mark Alderman, chairman of Wolf Block, a 300-lawyer firm based in Center City. Wolf Block Public Strategies is the law firm’s lobbying subsidiary.

The new alliance will include several high-profile players in Washington politics and policy. Alderman was a top fund-raiser for President-elect Barack Obama and one of his first prominent supporters in Pennsylvania, and Urban has many ties to Democratic and Republican moderates.

Urban’s firm, which has nine registered lobbyists, includes Sheryl V. Cohen, a former chief of staff to Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D., Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. The committee is playing a central role in the government response to ailing credit markets and the economic downturn.

“I absolutely believe that we would be doing something like this no matter who had won the election,” Alderman said. “What this will do is link us in a formal way.”

As the relationship evolves, Alderman said, the firms will review the possibility of a full-fledged merger.

Ever since the financial markets began tanking and the Bush administration responded with various aid packages, Washington has become a magnet for commercial interests seeking aid, information or both.

That has produced a windfall of business for lobbying firms that are capable of not only taking on big projects, but also referring clients internally to lawyers who can sort through the legal issues raised by the various bailout proposals.

Alderman and Urban said the hope is that clients who come to the affiliated firms for lobbying assistance will also seek their legal advice at Wolf Block.

Wolf Block’s lobbying clients include Lockheed Martin and Bose. American Continental’s clients include Disney and Ernst & Young, the global accounting and advisory firm.

“We have been off to a nice start there, but David is way further down the road,” Alderman said.

Article written by Chris Mondics
published Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer
page D1 – Business Section

http://autoacneproductions.blogspot.com/2008/11/news-flash-palin-power.html