Law and Lobbying Powerhouse Dewey & LeBoeuf Goes the Way of the Titanic
When a giant New York law firm falls, the reverberations can be strong in the nation's capital.The firm Dewey & LeBoeuf filed for bankruptcy Monday, after shutting down its Washington lobbying practice two weeks ago. Its clients at the time it closed included several insurance giants, such as Lloyd's of London and Aflac.
Dewey & LeBoeuf has had a steady but shrinking presence on Capitol Hill, raking in $2.4 million in lobbying fees last year, down from a high of $3.4 million in 2009, according to Center for Responsive Politics research. It represented 25 clients then, including the Alliance of Catholic Health Care Systems and Hannover Re.
But it's the storied insurer Lloyd's -- most famous, perhaps, for having insured the Titanic a hundred years ago for 1 million British pounds -- that rang up the highest lobbying bills at the firm year after year. Lloyd's worked almost exclusively with Dewey & LeBoeuf, and with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae before its 2007 merger with Dewey Ballantine.
Lloyd's paid the firm about $1.2 million for lobbying in 2011 and $340,000 through the first quarter of 2012. According to Dewey & LeBoeuf's recent termination report, Lloyd's of London also paid the firm $110,000 from the beginning of April to mid-May.
Unlike Lloyd's, Aflac typically retains many lobbying firms, but was a major client of Dewey & LeBouef every year since 2008. Aflac had paid the firm $270,000 in lobbying fees in the first quarter of 2012 and another $130,000 so far since then.
The firm's active PAC will be missed most by Democrats, who received 68 percent of its $175,000 in donations to federal candidates during the 2010 campaign cycle. The PAC has spent just under $50,000 on the 2012 elections.
Dewey & LeBoeuf's lobbyists may not have much time to clean out their desks. The firm's leaser, Property Group Partners -- which has sued the law firm seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in back rent and other fees -- hired a real estate broker to rent out its office space just one day after it filed for bankruptcy.