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Republican leader's law firm offers government and legislation
influence for sale...
Republican Congressional Candidate, Chuck Clay, is a partner in Brock, Clay, Calhoun, Wilson &
Rogers and has some interesting advertisements on their web site:
http://www.bccwr.com:
Brock, Clay, Calhoun, Wilson & Rogers facilitates changes in local,
state, and federal laws and regulations to benefit clients and industry.
This ability has helped companies and institutions in technology,
business, education, healthcare, public utilities, and real estate
development achieve their business goals.
The firm's current and former partners have emerged as political
leaders in local, state, and federal politics. Brock, Clay has produced
a United States Congressman, a County Commissioner, Georgia State
Senator, Senate Minority Leader in Georgia, and a Chairman of the
Georgia Republican Party.
Chuck Clay heads the firm's governmental affairs division and, in his
own political right, has emerged on to the national scene as chairman of
the Republican Party of Georgia during George W. Bush's campaign for
President. Mr. Clay can be found at the White House, in the halls of
Congress, and under Georgia's Gold Dome working on public policy and
legislative issues of national, regional, and state concern.
The firm's broad range of political strength and outstanding legal
counsel has attracted a wide variety of high profile clients needing to
secure business relationships with government agencies, seek regulatory
relief, or to influence the legislative process.
(from:
http://www.bccwr.com/practiceareas/govtaffairs.cfm)
Oooopppsss, now wait a minute.
Lets see if we have this right. The law firm has a division that offers,
to influence the legislative process for high profile clients. I guess
that would mean that the high profile client would pay the law firm for
its services. The head of this division that advertises for high profile
clients that want to influence the legislative process is Republican State
Senator and Congressional candidate Chuck Clay, a current Republican State
Senator who has held many posts in the Georgia Republican Party.
Now this brings up an interesting question. Lets say
a high profile client such as Home Depot came to the Governmental Affairs
Division of Brock, Clay, Calhoun, Wilson & Rogers and expressed interest
in influencing the Legislature on some bill, such as a State Flag bill.
When the head of this Division is then called on to vote on the bill, who
is he representing? Is this possible?
Of course we know that no attorney would ever do
anything unethical for money, certainly not Mr. Clay.
But they also advertise a list of their high profile
clients, lets see if Home Depot is one of them:
The firm seeks to protect the confidentiality of its clients yet, based
on approval or circumstance, the firm is proud to disclose a
representative list of its most prestigious clients including:
Piedmont Ear, Nose, Throat & Related Allergy, Inc.
Wellstar Health Systems
Kennestone Hospital
Cobb Hospital
Paulding Nursing Center
Paulding Hospital
Windy Hill Hospital
Cobb County Board of Education
Fulton County Board of Education
Stephens County Board of Education
Floyd County Board of Education
Gordon County Board of Education
Cobb Electric Membership Corporation (Cobb EMC)
Georgia Electric Membership Corporation (Georgia EMC)
Georgia Department of Education
Alexis Risk Management Services
Cobb Energy Management Corporation
Greystone Power Corporation
Fidelity Security Life Insurance Company
Hartford Insurance Company
Scottsdale Insurance Company
Universal Security Insurance Company
Universal Underwriters Insurance Company
North American Specialty Insurance Company
Home Depot, Inc.
Riverside Bank
SouthTrust Bank
C.W. Matthews Contracting Company
SAIA Motor Freight Line, Inc.
GULF Insurance Group
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Inc.
UBS PaineWebber Incorporated
Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc.
Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation
EMC Insurance Companies
Marietta Housing Authority
Brannen/Goddard Co.
City of Powder Springs, Georgia
City of Kennesaw, Georgia
YMCA of Cobb County, Georgia
Cobb County Civil Service Board
Augusta Lynx Professional Hockey Team
United Auto Group
River Street Sweets, Inc,
American Pan & Engineering Company
Gwinnett Partners, LLC
Vista Realty Partners
Lost Mountain Homeowners Association, Inc.
Columns Group
Seiz Printing
ProCore Solutions, LLC
Cooperative Business Ventures, Inc.
Cooperative Benefits & Financials Services, LLC
Allied Utility Network, LLC
(from:
http://www.bccwr.com/about/)
So here we have a situation where a law firm advertises influencing the
legislative process, has a high profile client, Home Depot, that has
publicly stated that it wanted to influence a bill and a State Senator who
voted on the bill. Since Senator Chuck Clay voted the way that their
high profile client publicly announced, this does not look very good, does
it?
Now the head of the law firm's governmental affairs division is a
leading Republican Congressional candidate. One issue that is being
debated in Congress is the devastating impact the H-1B visa program has
had on Americans. 900,000 immigrants have displaced several hundred
thousand Americans in their industry. Should Chuck Clay win the election
for the 6th Congressional District he will be casting a vote on this
specific issue during his term. Does his law firm have any conflicting
interest?
Once again from their web-site:
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Immigration
Enabling Your Business to Access a World of Employment
Opportunities
Immigration Services
Guide businesses through the entire immigration process,
including the following services:
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H visas (Temporary Work Visas) |
| • |
E visas (Investor Visas) & Employment
related family visas |
| • |
L visas (Executive / Managers visas)
and Labor Certifications |
| • |
Permanent Residency Status and Status
Changes |
(from:
http://www.bccwr.com/practiceareas/immigration.cfm) |
We do not believe that a partner in a law firm that advertises such
influence should be in public service. The 6th District Congressional
Primary next year will reveal to the whole State what the Republican Party
really believes about their so-called ethics reform.
If the Republicans do not consider this a potential conflict of
interest, it means the only issue they care about is electing anyone who
is willing to slap a Republican label on their campaign. It is our opinion
that this is not good government and if the Republicans support this style
of government they are not good for Georgia either.
Chuck Clay can be reached at:
cclay@bcwr.com
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