Lobbying world

•Corry Schiermeyer, Michael Tucker, Julie Panna, Banks Willis and Lawrence Pacheco have joined FD Dittus Communications. Schiermeyer, a former director of global communications for the White House National Security Council, will become assistant vice president of the firm’s energy and environment practice. Tucker, a former partner at Qorvis Communications, will become vice president in the public affairs practice. Julie Panna, formerly a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, was named assistant vice president in the nonprofit practice. Willis, a former manager at General Electric, has joined as an assistant vice president in the health and nutrition practice. And Pacheco, a longtime communications director for Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), will become a senior director in the firm’s energy and environment practice.

{mosads}•Jacob A. Johnson has joined Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck as a policy adviser to the law firm’s government relations team. Johnson previously worked on the staff of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), most recently as a legislative assistant.

•Christine Marie Baker has joined the American Veterinary Medical Association  (AVMA) as the manager of the trade group’s political action committee (PAC) and grassroots activities. Baker previously served as a lobbyist for the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association and as a fundraiser for Fraioli & Associates. She says her goal is to push AVMA’s PAC revenues over the $1 million mark over the next few election cycles.

•Joe Trippi, the campaign manager for Howard Dean during his 2004 presidential run, has been named to the board of advisers of Helium.com, an online news and politics forum. Trippi heads a political consultancy and is an adviser to former Sen. John Edwards’s (D-N.C.) 2008 presidential campaign.

•Robert Huffman and Peter Hutt have left Miller & Chevalier to join Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as partners in the law firm’s litigation practice. Huffman and Hutt represent companies in a range of sectors on government contracts issues.