Election Law & Government Ethics

Clients turn to Wiley for sophisticated counsel and advocacy in matters that shape the political law landscape, from regulatory challenges and high-stakes investigations to precedent-setting litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts across the country.

Wiley’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice advises and advocates for clients in matters involving campaign finance, lobbying, government ethics, pay-to-play, investigations, FEC matters, and election law litigation. We help corporations, trade associations, nonprofits, candidates, political committees, elected officials, contributors, and advocacy organizations understand the rules that govern their activity, manage compliance obligations, and advance their interests before regulators, Congress, agencies, and the courts.

Our work spans the full political law lifecycle. We help clients structure compliant political, lobbying, and advocacy activity before issues arise, and we represent clients when matters become contested, scrutinized, or subject to government review. Clients rely on Wiley because we understand both sides of the political law equation: how to help organizations pursue their goals within complex legal frameworks, and how to advocate effectively for our clients when those activities are challenged.

Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, national trade associations, business coalitions, lobbying firms, advocacy organizations, startups, nonprofits, campaign committees, political parties, super PACs, and high-profile contributors. We understand that each client has different goals, risk tolerances, and internal approval processes, and we tailor our advice accordingly.

Political Law Compliance

Wiley provides practical, strategic compliance advice to clients engaged in political, lobbying, and public policy advocacy at the federal, state, and local levels. We also help clients assess the applicable reporting and disclosure obligations, identify compliance risks, and structure their programs so they can move forward with confidence.

Our political law compliance work includes:

• Campaign finance compliance, including contributions, independent expenditures, corporate political activity, PAC activity, political party committee activity, candidate support, political advertising, and election-related communications.
• Pay-to-play compliance, including federal, state, and local restrictions that affect government contractors, financial services firms, placement agents, municipal securities dealers, investment advisers, and other highly regulated businesses.
• Government ethics counseling, including gift, travel, honoraria, conflicts of interest, personal financial disclosure, post-employment, and congressional and executive branch ethics rules.
• Federal, state, and local lobbying law compliance, including registration, reporting, gift rules, grassroots activity, procurement lobbying, and multistate lobbying programs.
• Establishing political law compliance programs, including policies, procedures, audits, training, internal controls, reporting calendars, and guidance for legal, compliance, government relations, PAC, and business teams.
• Nonprofit and tax-exempt organization advocacy, including 501(c) organizations, issue advocacy, political activity, donor disclosure, and IRS-related political law considerations.
• FARA, FCPA, and related compliance issues, including matters where political law, international activity, anti-corruption rules, and public policy advocacy intersect.

Government Investigations, Enforcement, & Litigation

When clients face political law scrutiny, enforcement risk, investigations, or litigation, Wiley provides sophisticated advocacy before Congress, regulators, enforcement agencies, and the courts.

We represent clients in congressional investigations and oversight matters, FEC proceedings, government ethics inquiries, regulatory investigations, enforcement matters, First Amendment litigation, election law litigation, commercial litigation, and federal and state court proceedings. Our work includes defending clients, challenging laws and regulations, seeking regulatory clarity, submitting comments and amicus briefs, and helping clients respond strategically to government inquiries and enforcement activity.

Our investigations, enforcement, & litigation work on behalf of our clients includes:

• Congressional investigations and oversight, including subpoenas, document requests, interview preparation, hearing strategy, privilege issues, and responses to politically sensitive inquiries.
• Federal Election Commission representation, including enforcement matters, advisory opinion requests, audits, complaints, investigations, and litigation involving FEC decisions.
• Election law and First Amendment litigation, including constitutional challenges to campaign finance, disclosure, election, and political speech laws.
• Government ethics investigations, including matters involving the House and Senate Ethics Committees, the Office of Congressional Conduct, the Office of Government Ethics, and state and local ethics agencies.
• Regulatory inquiries and enforcement proceedings, including matters involving federal and state campaign finance, lobbying, pay-to-play, ethics, and advocacy-related compliance.

Our investigations, enforcement, & litigation work is closely connected to our compliance counseling. Because we regularly advise clients on how political law rules apply in practice, we are well-positioned to defend those decisions, explain complex activity to regulators and investigators, and pursue strategic outcomes when clients face scrutiny.

Why Clients Choose Wiley

Founded as the first political law practice in the country, Wiley’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice has helped shape, interpret, and challenge the laws that govern political activity for over forty years. Our team includes a former chairman of the FEC, former congressional ethics committee leadership, former government officials, FEC attorneys, and lawyers with deep experience before the agencies, committees, boards, and courts that influence political law.

We understand the legal rules as well as the political, regulatory, and reputational context in which those rules operate. That perspective allows us to give clients advice that is not only legally sound, but also practical, strategic, and responsive to the real-world pressures they face.