Democratic majority good for K Street’s bottom line

New limits on the access lobbyists have to lawmakers have not hurt K Street’s bottom line as several top lobbying shops reported strong revenue growth in 2007.

Patton Boggs continued to set the pace in terms of money generated by lobbying. The law firm earned $42.7 million in 2007, making it the first firm to earn more than $40 million in one year from advocacy. In 2006, Patton Boggs generated $35.1 million in revenue, which was also good enough to put it on top of The Hill’s annual survey of lobbying revenue.

{mosads}Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld also enjoyed strong growth. Its revenues grew 24 percent on earnings of $32 million in 2007, compared to $25.9 million in 2006.

Other firms in the top 10 reported more modest increase in business. Van Scoyoc Associates made $28.8 million in 2007 compared to $28.6 million in 2006. Cassidy & Associates reported its lobbying group brought in $24.7 million, up slightly from 2006 when it reported $24.6 million (this figure does not include $4.3 million earned by The Rhoads Group, a subsidiary of Cassidy).

Rounding out the top five, BGR Holdings, formerly Barbour Griffith & Rogers, reported revenues of $22.7 million in 2007 versus the $22.6 million in made the year before. The formerly all-Republican firm announced plans last year to become bipartisan.

Ogilvy Government Relations, a formerly all GOP firm that already made the bipartisan shift, had the highest year-to-year growth in the survey.  The firm reported $22.3 million in revenues in 2007 compared to the $14.8 million it reported in 2006, an increase of over 50 percent.

Ogilvy added several lobbyists to its team in the past year and benefited from a large contract with public equity firm the Blackstone Group.

Dutko Worldwide made $11.5 million from lobbying in the second half of 2007, raising its annual total to $22.3 million, up from the $20.9 million it reported for all of 2006.

Democrats campaigned in 2006 in part by promising to break the bonds between lobbyists and lawmakers. New lobbying and ethics rules prohibit lobbyists from buying members or staff meals or other gifts or traveling with them on fact-finding trips.

What had a bigger impact on K Street, firm partners say, was the increased legislative activity of the new Democratic majority in areas like energy and tax policy.

Steven Ross, a partner at Akin Gump, said new committee chairmen brought a “pent-up agenda” that helped to drive up business.

He also attributed his firm’s success to a retooled tax shop and its bipartisan model, which he said was “back in vogue.”

James Christian of Patton Boggs said his firm benefited from the big fight in Congress last year to increase the fuel mileage standards. Cerberus Capital Management, which purchased a majority stake in carmaker Chrysler, paid the firm $1.8 million to lobby on that issue.

The Hill contacted over 25 firms as part of its survey. What follows is a run down of how firms faired in 2007. Their 2006 revenues are listed in parentheses.  The Hill was unable to learn the revenue totals for prominent lobbying firms, Hogan & Hartson and Williams & Jensen. (A complete list will run in Tuesday’s print edition.)

* Patton Boggs, $42.7 million ($35.1 million)
* Akin Gump, $32 million ($25.9 million)
* Van Scoyoc Associates, $28.8 million ($28.7 million)
* Cassidy and Associates, $24.7 million ($24.6 million)
* BGR Holdings, $22.7 million ($22.6 million)
* Dutko Worldwide, $22.3 million ($20.9 million)
* Ogilvy Government Relations, $22.3 million ($14.8 million)
* Quinn Gillespie & Associates, $18 million ($17.5 million)
* Holland & Knight, $16.9 million ($14.2 million)
* PMA Group, $16.4 million ($16.4 million)
* K & L Gates, $13.9 million ($13.1 million)
* Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, $13.7 million ($11.2 million)
* DLA Piper, $13.1 million ($16.4 million)
* Covington & Burling, $12.9 million ($9 million)
* Ferguson Group, $11.8 million ($10.5 million)
* Podesta Group, $11.4 million ($12.3 million, as PodestaMattoon)
* Venable, $11 million ($8.7 million)
* Alcalde & Fay, $10.7 million ($10.5 million)
* Capitol Tax Partners, $10 million ($7.7 million)
* Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates, $8.8 million ($8.2 million)

Kevin Bogardus, Jessica Holzer and Roxana Tiron contributed to this article.