Lobbying Related Programs Today

           The 2009 Administrative Law Conference starts today at the Washington Convention Center, and there are several programs of interest to those who follow lobbying-related legal issues.  First, at 10:45 am today is a panel on “Lobbying in the Obama Administration: What Practitioners Need to Know.”  This panel, which I helped organize, will consist of Stu Pierson (Troutman Sanders), Daniel Schuman (Sunlight Foundation), and Jim Christian (Patton Boggs).  The panel will examine the January 2009 Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel, the March 2009 Presidential Memorandum on lobbying on Recovery Act funding and revisions of that Memorandum, and will discuss the relationship between those regulations and the requirements of the Lobbying Disclosure Act. 

            Second, in the afternoon at 2 pm is a panel organized by Trevor Potter entitled “What’s Next for Lobbying Regulation?”  Charles Fried (Harvard Law School), Melanie Sloan (CREW), and Nick Allard (Patton Boggs) will discuss the ABA’s new Task Force on Lobbying Regulation, proposals for new lobbying regulations and the constitutional issues associated with current and proposed lobbying restrictions. 

            Both of these panels are co-sponsored by the D.C. Bar Administrative Law and Agency Practice Section, which I co-chair, and its Legislative Practice Committee.   

            Finally, between the two panels will be a luncheon presentation by Norm Eisen, White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform. 

            All of which should be very interesting to those who follow this area.