• EDUCATION. The advocacy arm of the law firm Squire Sanders has added a lobbying client to its roster in the University of Florida Student Government Association. The client transfer comes from a lobby firm founded by Al Cardenas, Squire’s newest senior partner. In this case, the contract states Squire will be “assisting the client in contacting the federal government regarding higher education legislation.”
• ENTERTAINMENT. Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips will be lobbying for The Moblees, a children’s television show that’s currently in early stages of production. Lobbyists at the firm, who are former aides to Reps. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), will be addressing issues regarding “early childhood education for nutrition and anti-sedentary behavior,” according to records.
{mosads}• ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT. Gulf Oyster Industry Council, a trade group that represents various business interests in the oyster industry in five Gulf Coast states, will be working with Henderson Strategies. It is the group’s first foray into federal advocacy, and forms indicate that lobbyists will work on issues related to the “federal response to the BP oil spill, coastal restoration along the Gulf of Mexico, [and] food labeling laws for shellfish and H-2B visas.”
Patton Boggs signed CITGO Petroleum Corporation as a client. According to lobbying disclosure forms, the head of the firm, Thomas “Tommy” Hale Boggs, will serve on the account. Lobbyists will be working for the corporation to communicate with policymakers about the “potential impact of U.S. energy policy on CITGO’s operations and its approach to delivering energy to U.S. consumers.”
• TECHNOLOGY. ADT, the company specializing in electronic security and alarm systems, has signed up with its first lobbyist in nearly a decade. ML Strategies and its team of lobbyists, which includes a former consultant at IBM and former senior Capitol Hill and administration staffers, will be working on the account. They will be dealing with “general issues pertaining to telecommunications.”
Oracle Corporation has signed its 12th lobby firm to work on its behalf, jumping into a wide range of policy debates ranging from immigration and taxes to patent reform and “issues related to emerging global markets,” forms say. The company hired Corley Consulting in April.