Two prominent Republican lobbyists -- one a former attorney general; the other, his sidekick -- are switching shops, crossing 10th Street to a giant law firm closely aligned with Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell.
Jerry W. Kilgore, an ex-attorney general and the defeated GOP nominee for governor in 2005, and Christopher R. Nolen, Kilgore's counsel in the attorney general's office, are leaving Williams Mullen for McGuireWoods.
McGuireWoods -- giving up lobbyist Eric J. Finkbeiner to become McDonnell's Cabinet-level policy chief -- yesterday declined to comment on the move, which was confirmed by legal and political sources
Because of the Republican ascendancy in Richmond, some lobbying firms are recalibrating, adding lawyers and others with contacts in the still-forming McDonnell administration and the fortified GOP majority in the House of Delegates.
Kilgore, who headed Williams Mullen's government-relations operation, is expected to join McGuireWoods' growing state lobbying practice, which includes offices in five capitals.
Nolen is signing with the McGuireWoods Virginia squad. He will replace Finkbeiner, a former aide to Gov. George Allen as well as a campaign adviser to McDonnell.
The Kilgore-Nolen departure spotlights a potential conflict of interest.
Both have lobbied or done legal work for payday lenders and related high-cost, instant-credit businesses, while McGuireWoods, in behalf of a national consumer organization, successfully pressed for restrictions on Virginia payday lenders. The firm is not expected to be involved further in the issue.
McGuireWoods apparently began courting Kilgore and Nolen, in earnest, after the November election.
Both have lobbied or done legal work for payday lenders and related high-cost, instant-credit businesses, while McGuireWoods, in behalf of a national consumer organization, pressed for restrictions on Virginia payday lenders.
That client is no longer represented by McGuireWoods, which apparently began courting Kilgore and Nolen, in earnest, after the November election.
Kilgore is helping organize and finance the McDonnell inaugural. Nolen was an adviser to the Republican victor in a House of Delegates recount in Virginia Beach.
In November, Bill Mims, who is completing McDonnell's term as attorney general, announced that he is joining Hunton and Williams -- McGuireWoods' principal local rival -- as a lobbyist in Richmond and Washington.
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