GOP rule augurs for a major Big Law lobbying revenue gain next year, as lawmakers try to move swiftly to enact President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.

Work will include which parts of the 2017 tax law to preserve and how to pay for them, winding back President Joe Biden’s restrictions on fossil fuel development, helping Congress members vet Trump cabinet picks, and brokering any appropriations bills that aren’t settled this year.

“An America First mindset—that’s sort of the framing for how we’re thinking about the policy debate,” said Karishma Page, co-lead of the public policy and law practice at K&L Gates. “There’s a reaction to what the previous administration did and a reversal of what those policies looked like.”

The expected haul would give a boost to some of the 200 largest law firms that count on lobbying for their bottom lines. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck derived more than 20% of total 2023 revenue from federal lobbying, according to American Lawyer data and public disclosures. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Squire Patton Boggs got single-digit percentages of their overall revenue from federal lobbying.

Republicans in this month’s elections won control of the White House, Senate and House for the first time since the 2016 contests. Such changes in control correlate to a boost in lobbyist spending, according to Bloomberg Government data from firms that report $1 million or more in revenue.

In the first year of Trump and Republican control in 2017, lobbying revenue jumped 10% to $1.54 billion, the data shows. Such a growth rate didn’t happen again until Biden and Democrats took over in 2021, when lobbying revenue jumped 10.3% to $1.92 billion.

“Any time there is a shift in political power in DC, that’s going to be an opportunity for reinvigorated policy-making,” said Will Moschella, co-chair of the government relations department at Brownstein Hyatt. That “presents opportunities for those who would like to see policy changes.”

Lobbyists will be particularly busy in 2025, as Republicans want to act ahead of midterm elections while they still control both chambers of Congress, Page said. “There is a recognition that things need to move very quickly,” she said.

Loper Bright

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which stripped federal agencies of leeway to interpret vague statutes, creates an added opportunity for firms, Page said. “Legislative drafting is going to have to be much more technical,” she said.

Ed Newberry, global managing partner at Squire Patton Boggs, said Loper Bright gives firms such as his—that tout a focus on “substance” over politics—an advantage. “If Congress is passing a law to regulate something in the energy space, you’re going to have to have experts in the substance of that energy policy to help with the legislation,” he said.

Moschella said lobbyists are also gearing up to advocate client interests in the Senate’s vetting of Trump-nominated cabinet members. He said, for instance, that he plans to ask senators to press nominees on their stance on regulations affecting the firm’s fishery clients.

On the energy front, lobbyists expect to help clients seek an end to the Biden administration’s January halt on federal permitting for liquefied natural gas exports. “The LNG pause we expect to go away very quickly,” Moschella said.

Lobbyists are also preparing for the possibility that some appropriations bills are delayed to next year, giving Republicans a stronger hand in negotiating the bills that fund the government. “Appropriation is the biggest question mark for this lame-duck Congress,” said G. Hunter Bates, co-leader of Akin Gump’s lobbying and public policy practice.

Top Firms

The boon in lobbying work carries a particular benefit for some big law firm operations.

Brownstein Hyatt surpassed competitors in lobbying revenue reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act so far this year, outpacing its competitors with $50.9 million in the first three quarters.

Akin Gump generated $42 million, Squire Patton Boggs brought in $15.7 million, and K&L Gates collected $12.7 million, the disclosures show.

Apollo Global Management is among firms that turned to law operations for help. Apollo paid Brownstein Hyatt more than $3 million this year for representing it on “issues related to portfolio management and optimization” in both chambers of Congress.

Squire Patton Boggs has received more than $1 million from food manufacturer Mars Inc. for advocacy in implementing the Farm Bill and “regulation and legislation related to food and pet food, and cocoa sustainability.”

K&L Gates received $840,000 for representing the American Maritime Partnership in negotiations over the defense legislation, including the spending bills for the Pentagon and the National Defense Authorization Act.

Nippon Steel Corp. paid Akin Gump $2.3 million this year for advocating for its acquisition of US Steel in the face of bipartisan opposition.

“We expect to be extremely busy over the next four years on a range of fronts,” Akin Gump’s Bates said. “Our lobbyists are working with clients to help them to understand what a shift in energy policy and an all-of-the-above approach will mean for energy investments. We’ve had strong several years and we expect that to increase in the next Congress.”