U.S. Chamber Fills Position of Lawful Chief Who Give up to Enable Cheney

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has appointed Harold Kim to provide as acting normal counsel after the previous legal main left to recommend Rep. Liz Cheney on an inquiry into the Capitol Hill assault previous yr.

A distinguished critic of the plaintiffs’ bar, Kim has been president of the chamber’s Institute for Lawful Reform due to the fact 2020. He’ll provide as interim authorized chief though the chamber queries for a long-lasting standard counsel to switch John Wood, who still left following a lot more than 3 a long time in the top rated lawful publish.

Wood joined the U.S. Home Pick Committee to Look into the January 6th Attack as its senior investigative counsel and of counsel to its vice chair, Cheney (R-Wyo.), the panel announced in September. He’s part of a probe of former President Donald Trump’s interior circle, the New York Occasions described.

The transform in authorized division management, verified by chamber spokeswoman Shira Rawlinson, will come practically a yr after a switch in chief govt officers. Suzanne Clark grew to become the first woman to lead the business enterprise lobbying business when she changed Tom Donohue.

Bush Alumnus

Kim is a previous senior litigation associate at what is now Squire Patton Boggs, a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a past particular assistant to President George W. Bush in the White House’s Business of Legislative Affairs.

He joined the chamber a dozen decades in the past and served in a assortment of lawful roles for the Institute for Lawful Reform, an affiliate that is a proponent for civil justice and tort reform, as well as an opponent of litigation finance.

Kim, in his job as president of the institute, obtained a lot more than $1 million in whole compensation for the duration of 2020, for every the organization’s most the latest federal tax filing.

He also oversees the Chamber Litigation Center, whose internet site states it is staffed by 10 in-home lawyers, 4 of whom are former U.S. Supreme Court clerks. The middle serves as a general public policy law organization that pushes pro-organization triggers in court.

Large Authorized Payments

The center’s hottest tax submitting reveals it paid the subsequent for legal coverage and consulting operate in 2020: $394,000 to Mayer Brown $360,000 to Baker Botts $135,000 to Jones Day $132,500 to King & Spalding and $127,500 to Morrison & Foerster.

Steven Lehotsky, a previous chief litigation counsel for the heart and the chamber, was compensated far more than $503,000 for his expert services that calendar year. He left in 2021 to type his personal Washington-based litigation boutique.

In November, the middle brought on in-property counsel Tyler Badgley, who spent the past a few many years as an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in Washington.

The chamber’s institute, in the meantime, also compensated for legal help. A federal tax filing for 2020 displays that it paid out $266,000 to Shook, Hardy & Bacon $232,600 to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom $215,000 to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and $170,000 to Hunton Andrews Kurth for lawful investigation and consulting fees.

Wood’s Role

The chamber hired Wood, a litigator and former chairman of the defense market apply at Hughes Hubbard & Reed in Kansas City, Mo., and Washington, to be its typical counsel in 2018. He said that similar 12 months he preferred to enhance the profile of the Chamber’s litigation arm.

Wood obtained practically $317,000 from the chamber following currently being hired in 2018, for each the organization’s most new federal tax filing. He succeeded the chamber’s previous normal counsel, Lily Fu Claffee, who was paid out almost $1 million that yr.

Claffee, who still left the chamber to turn into standard counsel for Fox News, final 12 months took on a new top lawful occupation at financial providers business OneMain Holdings Inc.

Wood, a former U.S. lawyer for the Western District of Missouri, is also an alumnus of the George W. Bush administration, as he served as main of staff members at the Department of Homeland Stability throughout the president’s 2nd term.

In doing work with Cheney, he has aligned himself with a person of the most vocal Republicans to criticize the steps of Trump above the riot that took put on Capitol Hill last calendar year.

The Republican National Committee censured Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Unwell.), the only other Republican on the Democratic-led Jan. 6 committee, previously this month. Kinzinger isn’t jogging for reelection this year but hasn’t ruled out a probable upcoming campaign for general public place of work.

Another former federal prosecutor advising the Jan. 6 committee is former Hunton Andrews Kurth associate Timothy Heaphy. In January, Heaphy was fired from his function as main counsel to the University of Virginia pursuing a gubernatorial modify.