In conjunction with our government relations efforts, we provide our clients with advice concerning compliance with federal and state laws regulating election and campaign political activity, fund-raising, and contributions. We review city, state and federal legislation and combine broad legal knowledge with effective advocacy techniques to help clients understand government policy, critical to survival in a regulated environment.
Our lawyers represent clients before legislative and executive bodies in both formal and informal proceedings relating to ethics, energy, solid waste, real estate, privatization, taxation, technology, the environment and health care. We also represent clients during contract negotiations and at hearings and help draft legislative testimony.
We also develop and implement strategies for clients who need to obtain public funding or who need assistance with an administrative or regulatory matter in the local, state or federal milieu. Throughout the process, you stay informed of changes that could affect your business interests or decisions.
We know that political, legislative and governmental issues can often arise as obstacles in achieving your goals, and our attorneys have sophisticated practices that can handle these pitfalls and help you negotiate the legal and regulatory maze. Many attorneys in our Firm have served in governmental positions and many have represented numerous municipalities in complex litigation matters. As a result of our long-term involvement in this field of practice, we have developed in-depth knowledge in governmental regulation that enhances the representation of government entities and the representation of non-government clients concerning regulatory matters.
Our group is part of the Schnader tradition of regional and national experience in serving our clients effectively, competitively, competently and proactively, protecting our clients’ interests and advancing their goals.
Many of our lawyers have firsthand experience making and influencing policy. They have held office, received senior government appointments, and served in a range of local, state and federal government positions. A partial list of the municipal and governmental experience of our lawyers demonstrates the Firm’s accomplishments in the government relations area:
- Experience in municipal board service, municipal and government services, real estate finance and development, and in counseling enterprises about the interface between governmental and economic development agencies and about financing strategies utilizing both private and public partnerships.
- Service on the board of the Port Authority of Allegheny County, as solicitor of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, as planning commissioner for the City of Pittsburgh and as a board member of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority.
- Extensive work with government contracts, with emphasis on complex public, private and institutional projects such as real estate sales, project financing (including loans secured by real property) and commercial leasing.
- Drafting of legislation on the state and local levels, and work with federal, state and local government grant and loan programs.
- Significant practice devoted to large development projects that combine public and private for-profit and nonprofit elements.
- More than ten years of service in the Law Department of the City of Philadelphia, focusing on public-sector business and real estate matters and supervision of the city’s legal work on many major projects.
- Service as Philadelphia city solicitor-the city’s chief legal counsel on many of the city’s commercial ventures with developers and mixed public-private funding.
- More than 25 years of trial and appellate litigation experience in federal and state courts and administrative agencies and in governmental affairs counseling.
- Experience in advising candidates for federal, state and local office on state election law and federal and state campaign finance law.
- Service on the City of Philadelphia’s Election Reform Task Force, which produced a widely publicized report.
- Service on transition teams for the newly-elected mayor of Philadelphia and for the controller-elect of Philadelphia.
- Service as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco.
- Service as a White House Fellow, serving as director of the Office of Global Affairs for the National Security Council, focusing on international crime, narcotics, terrorism and war crimes.
- Assistance in drafting the federal International Crime Control Act of 1996.
- Service as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice, advising South Africa’s government on police reform.
- Chairmanship of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the commonwealth’s leading criminal justice policy agency, directing the commission’s resources for the first time to fight domestic and international terrorism.
- Candidacies for Pennsylvania attorney general in 2000 and 2004.
- Service on Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell’s Family and Children’s Cabinet, as the governor’s chief criminal justice policy advisor during the 2002 campaign, and on the governor’s transition team and as counsel to the Inaugural Committee.
- Service as chief counsel to the Police Advisory Commission of Philadelphia and to Mayor John Street’s Special Commission on Police Discipline.
- Part of the agency review team for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Service as a Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board regulating Pennsylvania casinos.
- Leadership role for the Philadelphia School District’s School Reform Commission.
- Extensive work for the City of Philadelphia’s finances for PICA.
Several attorneys in our Government and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group were affiliated with the U.S. Department of Justice, involved in many special legal, cultural and political challenges on behalf of public and private entities. In addition, one of our attorneys serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute, lecturing on environmental values, energy choices, and urban policy and sprawl.
Schnader attorneys outside the group, themselves rich in experience in a wide array of public service backgrounds, can be called upon by the group when needed.
Our Attorneys
News & Publications
- Warning for Businesses: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Violations of the State’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act Do Not Require Intent
- Diversifying Appellate World Means Starting at the Beginning
- New Rules from U.S. Department of Transportation: Tell Your Emotional Support Peacocks to Stay Home – This Is a Dog’s World Now
- The City of Philadelphia Issues 180-Day Moratorium on Restaurant Evictions
- Schnader Sponsors the Virtual Fall Event of CeaseFirePA
- Timothy Lewis Reflects on the Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Timothy Lewis Receives Two Appointments – The Council on Criminal Justice and The Appellate Project
- Timothy K. Lewis Helps Develop Clause to Ensure Diversity in Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Timothy K. Lewis Interviewed for Law360 Article on Roger Stone Sentencing
- Sea Change in Class Action Settlement Process: A Year Under Revised Rule 23(e)
- Timothy Lewis appeared on NBC10 @ Issue
- An Important Endeavor for Justice
- Timothy Lewis Appeared on The Beat With Ari Melber to Address “Trump and Ukraine: The Impeachment Crisis”
- Schnader’s Appellate Team Wins Third Circuit Reversal of Asylum Petition Dismissal and Halts Deportation of Political Refugee from Nepal
- Tim Lewis Receives CPR’s 2019 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity in ADR
- Washington Post Op-Ed References Tim Lewis’s Brookings Report
- Timothy Lewis Was Interviewed for the Online Podcast of the Project on Government Oversight
- Tim Lewis Published “Promoting Diversity in Mediation” as the Cover Story in CPR’s Alternatives Newsletter
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis Spoke at Two Major CPR Events
- Hon. Timothy Lewis Writes the Cover Story for The Pennsylvania Lawyer
- Tim Lewis Assesses SCOTUS Case Involving Defendant’s Right to Contest Guilt
- Tim Lewis Op-Ed On Death Penalty Case Before U.S. Supreme Court
- Timothy Lewis Co-signed Amicus Brief with Ongoing Impact
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis Gives Presidential Address With Vice President Biden
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis is Featured in the Spring 2016 Issue of the ABA’s Dispute Resolution Journal
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis Co-Authors Op-Ed in Notable Death Penalty Case
- “The Dismal State of Diversity: Mapping a Chart for Change”
- “Judicial Discretion Can Help the Poor”
- Duquesne University School of Law Honors Prominent Alumni Including Schnader Counsel Honorable Timothy K. Lewis
- First Amendment Rights of Witnesses to Execution in PA Protected
- Schnader Recognized as a Tier One Law Firm in the 2013 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- Paul Titus Offers Comment on Capital Punishment Media Access
- Schnader’s Judge Lewis Signs Clemency Petition for Terrance Williams
- Schnader Attorneys Offer Comment on Upcoming Supreme Court Cases
- Thirty-Three Schnader Attorneys Selected for The Best Lawyers in America 2013
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis Appointed to the American Arbitration Association Judicial Settlement Conference Service Panel
- Judge Lewis and The Constitution Project Release Statement on the Department of Justice’s Practice of Failing to Disclose Favorable Evidence to Defendants
- “It’s Time to Fill Judicial Vacancies”
- “Act With Dispatch to Ease Federal Courts’ Vacancy Burden”
- Gov. Jack Markell Commutes Death Sentence of Robert Gattis
- “Justice Shouldn’t Be Just for the Rich”
- Marilyn Kutler Recognized with a 2011 Philadelphia Business Journal Women of Distinction Award
- Sixty-Eight Schnader Attorneys Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell®
- Thirty Schnader Attorneys Recognized as “The Best Lawyers in America” for 2012
- Schnader Obtains a Dismissal in a Matter for Covanta Holding Corp.
- “The Prospect of a Housing Finance Market Without Fannie and Freddie”
- Schnader Names Four New Partners
- Schnader’s Judge Timothy Lewis Discusses Vacant Seats on the Federal Bench on NPR’s Morning Edition
- Schnader Recognized as a Tier One Law Firm in the First Annual Best Lawyers-U.S.News & World Report Law Firm Rankings
- Thirty-Two Schnader Attorneys Recognized as “Best Lawyers in America” for 2011
- Schnader Scores Big for Gaming Client in Pittsburgh
- “The State-of-the-Art Defense in Product Liability Cases: A Fifty State Survey [California Treatment]”
Related Events
- Practical Approaches to Ensure the Neutrality of Party-Appointed Arbitrators
- ADR in the Time of COVID
- First Conversation on Race: Race in Our Community
- The Appellate Project Virtual Launch Event
- Psychological Perspectives on Racial Disparities in Legal Outcomes
- A Conversation About Racism In Our Country and Profession
- Racism, Discrimination, Implicit Bias and Injustice: How Conflict Must Breed Resolution
- A Master Class Seminar on Pursuing Diversity
- The Diversity Dilemma: ADR in the Aftermath of Jay-Z
- Schnader Sponsors and Hosts the CPR Regional Meeting in Philadelphia on April 30
- The Legacy and Leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Future Challenges and Opportunities
- 2018 PDLG Symposium: Diversity in the First Chair: Symposium on Women and Diverse Lawyers in the Courtroom and Boardroom
- Timothy Lewis Gave the Keynote Address at the 30th Anniversary Gala of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts
- Timothy Lewis Spoke at Duquesne University School of Law and University of Pennsylvania Law School
- Tim Lewis Spoke at Georgetown University Law Center Conference
- Ira Neil Richards Presented about Mindfulness in Law
- Tim Lewis Appeared on MSNBC to Discuss the Mueller Investigation and the President
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis Participated in Criminal Justice Symposium
- Hon. Timothy Lewis Gives Constitution Day Speech
- Ira Neil Richards Spoke at HarrisMartin’s Antitrust Pay-for-Delay Litigation Conference
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis Keynote Speaker at Philadelphia Bar Association Quarterly Meeting
- Ira Richards Spoke at the 22nd National Conference on Consumer Finance Class Actions & Litigation
- Timothy K. Lewis Spoke at PBA Minority Bar Committee’s Diversity Summit
- Jim Eisenhower Appeared on WPVI-TV’s Inside Story
- Bruce Merenstein Participates in Appellate Panel at Villanova Law School
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis Presides Over Peter Jennings Project 2012 Moot Court
- Schnader’s Marilyn Kutler Presented at the American College of Real Estate Lawyers 2012 Spring Meeting, Public Private Partnership Committee
- Schnader’s Marilyn Kutler Presented at PBI’s 15th Annual Real Estate Institute – Public Art
- Hon. Timothy K. Lewis Participates in “Judicial Vacancies, Justice Denied” Panel
- Marilyn Kutler Spoke at City of Philadelphia Law Department CLE Seminar on Use of Authorities and Quasi-Public Agencies in Philadelphia