Summary: Saxby Chambliss will join the law firm DLA Piper now that his term as a senator has ended.
According to AJC.com, Saxby Chambliss, the former Georgia Republican U.S. Senator, is starting his post-Senate career at one of the largest law firms in the world, DLA Piper. His career will be primarily based in Atlanta, but will have a global reach, considering his worldwide intelligence contacts.
Senator-elect Bob Hertzberg has joined Glaser Weil.
DLA Piper employs lobbyists, but Chambliss has made it clear that he will not be lobbying, even after his two-year cooling off period ends. “I’m not going to lobby. That’s part of my deal. I’m not a lobbyist. I’m on the legal side of the firm,” he said. Chambliss said it was a “very, very difficult decision” to turn down the main Atlanta firms, but that DLA Piper offered him a greater opportunity based on his contacts.
“They have a major presence here in Atlanta, a major presence across the country to allow me to utilize the contacts I’ve made around the country. Plus they are in 30 different countries, so it really gives me a chance to develop the contacts I’ve made in the defense world and the intel world. They by far had the best platform for me to be able to do that,” Chambliss explained.
Former FDIC chair Sheila Bair has also joined the firm.
Chambliss added that he will also do “some other corporate stuff,” such as joining a couple of boards, and will join an advisory board for the U.S. Intelligence community. He will also lecture at the University of Georgia.
It’s not unusual for senators to have fruitful careers after leaving office. Chambliss created many high-value defense and intelligence relationships during his time as a senator, according to Wikipedia. It’s said he left the Senate as one of the “poorest” senators (as compared to the rest of the country), as his assets were valued between $90,000 and $315,000.
Prior to his election to the U.S. House in 1994, he was an agriculture attorney.
Read about the legal market in Atlanta.
Roger Meltzer, the global co-chair and co-chair (Americas) of DLA Piper, said, “Senator Chambliss is deeply respected in Washington and abroad and has extensive relationships among government and corporate leaders, which will be an asset in our continued work across disciplines and industries around the world. His insight and guidance will be of tremendous value to clients with pressing global interests before the new Congress and within the constantly changing regulatory and public policy environment.”
Source: AJC.com
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