Bottom Line

• LEGAL. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform brought on two additional outside firms, bringing its total to 14 lobby shops. Bridge Street Group and King & Spalding are new on the roster. Disclosure forms for King & Spalding mention lobbying on the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2015, which would require asbestos settlement trusts to publicly disclose information about the terms of agreements between those trusts and the claimants. Bridge Street Group only says it is lobbying for “legal reform” on disclosure reports and does not mention any specific topics or policy issues. 

• GAMBLING. Valente & Associates, run by GOP strategist Mark Valente III, signed two clients that want to oppose a congressional push to ban online gambling, the Poker Players Alliance and Amaya Services Ltd., an Internet poker provider. Legislation in the House that would make the gaming illegal —  the Restoration of America’s Wire Act — has 16 co-sponsors, 13 of whom are Republicans.

{mosads}• COPYRIGHT LAW. Bridge Street Group is working for the National Music Publishers Association regarding policy issues related to copyrighting and music licensing. The trade group is working to pass the Songwriter Equity Act, which it says creates a fairer royalty structure for songwriters and modernizes federal copyright laws. The organization also has Peck Madigan Jones on retainer.

• FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Following a presidential election in Nigeria that saw a change in leadership, the country is keeping at least one of its K Street firms, according to forms filed with the Justice Department. The Government of Nigeria through its embassy renewed a contract with Mercury Public Affairs for $143,333 per month. The contract went from January 2015, before the election in February, until the end of last month, when it transitioned to a month-to-month basis.  The contract originally began in 2013. Forms must be filed with Justice Department within 10 days of signing them; though the documents show that Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye, Nigeria’s ambassador to the U.S., signed them on May 11.