Lobbying World

•David Morrison, the staff director of the House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee, will join the Podesta Group as chairman of the national security and international practice area. Morrison serves as the principal defense adviser to the committee’s chairman, Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), and the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).

•Kurt Pfotenhauer has joined the American Land Title Association as chief executive officer. Pfotenhauer comes from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), where he was senior vice president of government affairs.  MBA has tapped Steve O’Connor to fill Pfotenhauer’s shoes. The trade group promoted him from senior vice president of public policy to senior vice president of government affairs.

{mosads}•Barry LaSala has joined Microsoft as director of government affairs. LaSala served most recently as counsel to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, whose chairman is Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

•Laura W. Murphy, the former chief lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), will join the Livingston Group as a consultant on defense technology, homeland security and nonprofits.

•Katie R. McCall, a former lobbyist for Van Scoyoc Associates, has joined U.S. Steel as manager of federal government affairs in the Washington office.

•Peg McGlinch will join Clark & Weinstock. Most recently, McGlinch was chief of staff to Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.). She previously served as counsel for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and was legislative director for Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.).

•Gabriel Guerra-Mondragon, the former U.S. ambassador to Chile, has joined Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal as a senior adviser in the firm’s public law and policy strategies group.

•Khaterh Calleja has joined AdvaMed as associate vice president of technology and regulatory affairs. Calleja most recently served as federal affairs manager at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

•Douglas M. Troutman was named director of government affairs at the Soap and Detergent Association (SDA). Troutman comes from Underwriters Laboratories Inc., where he served as a lobbyist on energy issues.