The Lobbying Manual: A Complete Guide to Federal Lobbying Law and Practice

Whether you're a lobbyist working for a law firm, public relations firm or multi-million dollar corporation, or a government affairs or public policy professional advocating on behalf of a nonprofit or charitable organization, labor union, trade association, or other public interest group, practitioners and clients alike must comply with certain laws that vary by jurisdiction. Keeping current with the all of the state and federal laws and regulations can be an arduous and time consuming task.

The manual also contains descriptions of the legislative and executive branch decision-making processes, the constraints that apply to lobbyist participation in political campaigns, the techniques of grassroots lobbying, the professional norms of appropriate behavior that apply to lobbyists, and much more.

The information contained in this handy guide is applicable at the federal, state and local levels and is designed for lawyers, government affairs professionals, legislative staff, regulators, professors and students or anyone who lobbies on behalf of an organization, interest group or client. You don’t want to be without this valuable resource.

William V. Luneburg is professor emeritus of law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He was an editor of and contributor to the second, third, and fourth editions of The Lobbying Manual. Starting his career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Regions I and V), he later entered private practice in Chicago where he specialized in civil litigation.

He began teaching law as a Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer-in-Law at the University of Chicago Law School and then became a member of the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where he taught until his retirement in 2013. Bill’s teaching specialties included civil procedure, conflict of laws, legislation, administrative law, litigation with the federal government, and environmental law. His published work, including books and articles, covered all of those areas as well as federal lobbying disclosure and related topics.

During the course of this teaching career, Bill also advised and litigated on behalf of various local, state, and national environmental groups involved with issues of air and water pollution and forest preservation. He was a consultant to the Administration Conference of the United States on various projects, including those dealing with petitions for rulemaking; contracting with the federal government for legal services; the federal personnel complaint, appeal, and grievance system; and the federal juvenile justice and delinquency prevention formula grant program.

Bill was chair of the Association of American Law Schools Legislation Section and vice-chair, chair-elect, and chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice. Among other positions with the Section, he was a member of its Task Force on Federal Lobbying Laws that issued in 2011 a report and recommendations for reform of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Lobbying Law in the Spotlight: Challenges and Proposed Improvements). He is a life member of the American Law Institute and a former member of its advisory group for its project dealing with lobbying and government ethics.

Rebecca H. Gordon is a partner in the Political Law Group at Perkins Coie LLP. She counsels corporations, trade associations, lobbying firms, and other entities on the entire spectrum of legal issues that impact their ability to interact with and impact federal and state governments. The issues include those arising under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act registration and reporting requirements; federal campaign finance law; federal and state laws governing the provision of meals, entertainment, and other things of value to public officials; state and local lobbying law; and federal and state pay-to-play laws.

Rebecca works closely with clients’ legal and government relations teams, counseling them on all aspects of their interactions with candidates and government officials. Rebecca helps her clients construct and implement compliance programs to fit each one’s unique structure and culture. She counsels on campaign finance and congressional ethics matters and helps organizations interested in creating and operating their own political action committees. In her work, she draws upon years of experience as counsel to countless political campaigns, federal officeholders, and party committees.

Rebecca’s clients include Fortune 100 corporations, nationwide trade associations, and prominent lobbying firms. She has particular depth advising clients in the technology, health care, media and entertainment, and oil and gas sectors. Rebecca has found that her clients maximize the value of their work when they clearly understand the strategies and recommendations for effective, lawful political participation. Her counsel focuses on accessible advice that extends beyond merely reciting the law and provides practical guidance that allows clients to make informed decisions more easily.

Thomas M. Susman is the American Bar Association’s strategic advisor for Global Programs and Governmental Affairs. He assumed that role after retiring in 2018 as the director of the Governmental Affairs Office and associate executive director of the American Bar Association (a position he held from May 2008).

Prior to joining the ABA, he was a partner in the Washington Office of Ropes & Gray LLP for 27 years. There his work included counseling, litigation, and lobbying on a wide range of regulatory, antitrust, health care, ethics, and information law issues.

Before joining Ropes & Gray, Tom served on Capitol Hill for more than 11 years. He was chief counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure and general counsel to the Antitrust Subcommittee and to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Prior to that, he served in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Tom created and co-edits The Lobbying Manual; served as an adjunct professor at The American University’s Washington College of Law; and chairs the Ethics Committee of the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics. His articles address lobbying reform, reciprocity, contingent fee lobbying, and campaign contributions. He has also written, taught, and lectured both in the United States and abroad on transparency, access to government information, and administrative law.

Tom chaired the Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice Section of the ABA and served in the ABA’s House of Delegates and on its Board of Governors. He is a member of the American Law Institute, was chair of the National Judicial College Board, was president of the District of Columbia Public Library Foundation, and is founding president of the D.C. Open Government Coalition. In November 2023, Tom was honored by the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics with its inaugural “Best Lobbyist” Lifetime Achievement Award.