Commercial Practice
Capability Statement
Legislative Background
Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry & Hoven, P.C., represents a wide range of clients before the Congress and the Montana State Legislature. Some of the firm's lawyers are registered as lobbyists both in Washington, D.C., and in Helena, Montana.
In addition to traditional lobbying activities, our firm provides clients with services in a broad array of public affairs projects, including conceptualizing and strategizing on ballot initiatives, press relations, and public relations.
Conceptualizing and strategizing of public affairs assignments is accomplished for our clients in a variety of arenas, including press relations, public relations, lobbying before Congress, the Montana State Legislature, federal, state, and local governmental agencies. Our work on legislative matters is both defensive and offensive. We work to defeat legislation opposed by our clients and enact legislation that is favored by our clients. We perform public affairs assignments in a low-key, professional, and personal manner. We present our clients' interests in an intelligible and compelling way, while adhering to ethical standards which benefit our clients' and their long-term interests.
BKBH's governmental relations group assists clients to design and implement public policy through any or all of the following activities:
- conceptualizing and developing grassroots support for client's positions;
- daily monitoring of legislation before The Montana Legislature and the U.S. Congress;
- drafting bills and amendments;
- advocating or opposing passage of legislation, both through on-site and grassroots lobbying;
- following interim activities of all legislative committees or study commissions;
- networking with legislative members or staff, and governmental employees in the state and federal governments to anticipate and address problems;
- representation at committee meetings and agency hearings.
State Legislative Services
BKBH has developed a sophisticated process to monitor legislation, to provide a comprehensive review of legislative or administrative proposals of interest to our clients, and to keep these clients apprised quickly and regularly of legislative or administrative activities that could potentially impact their operations.
Our firm's state legislative support resources and systems in Helena are among the best available in Montana. Lawyers at BKBH have developed, and institutionalize, a wide array of technical support services to enhance their effectiveness in communicating with our clients, grassroots contacts, government employees in the legislative process, and most importantly, the legislators themselves. We have developed a proven sophisticated process to monitor legislation, to provide a comprehensive review of legislative or administrative proposals of interest to our clients, and to keep these clients apprised quickly and regularly of legislative or administrative activities that could potentially impact their operations. Among the key features of our legislative tracking system are the following:
Pre-Session Legislative Reports
Prior to the commencement of the state legislative sessions, BKBH prepares a comprehensive Pre-Session Legislative Report and distributes this report to its legislative clients. This report contains select information that may assist a client in preparing for and interpreting the session. Some features of the pre-session report include: important legislative deadlines, filing deadlines and requirements for lobbyists and legislative clients, key legislative phone numbers and calendars, biographical and background information on the legislators and their committees, information on the legislative process and its rules, a summary of the perceived legislative agenda based on the makeup of that year's legislature, and a "p-base" report prepared by the Montana Chamber of Commerce to rate the pro-business sentiment in each legislative district.
Legislative Support Staff
For each general session of the Montana Legislature, we hire and train several special assistants who work exclusively on legislative matters, by providing technical support and informational services to our legislative clients.
Bill Reading & Distribution
Throughout the session, two of our attorneys are assigned the task of reading each of the nearly 1,500 introduced bills and resolutions to determine their potential impacts on our clients. We then obtain sufficient copies of the bill or other legislative action so identified, and the potentially affected legislative clients are then notified. The firm's legislative attorneys communicate with their clients about legislative developments in the manner agreed upon prior to the session. Typically, postcards are sent within a day of legislative action of potential interest to the client as a back-up method to gauge the client's interest in certain pieces of legislation. Any bill in which that client expresses an interest in is then monitored or actively lobbied, depending on the client's degree of interest. Legislative actions impacting that bill are then entered daily into the firm's proprietary tracking system.
Legislative Data & Tracking Information System
We compile and maintain our own automated communications and legislative information systems connecting us with our clients on legislative developments. The system allows for daily tracking of legislation and keeps the legislative attorneys and clients notified of all important dates and actions on a particular bill. This allows clients to independently monitor bills through our web site. In addition, we have computer systems personnel to assist us with quality control of this propriety application.
Legislative Facilities
A legislative services suite and library are maintained permanently at our office, supported by state-of-the-art electronic and telecommunications equipment.
Daily Legislative Conferences
At the end of each legislative day, a meeting is held between the firm's lobbyists and our legislative staff assistants to discuss legislative developments and trends in the context of possible impacts on our legislative clients.
End of Session Evaluation
At the end of each legislative session, in anticipation of our next legislative session, we evaluate and document the resources, personnel and systems dedicated by BKBH to our legislative activities.
Services During Non-Legislative Periods
During the interim between legislative sessions, the firm's legislative attorneys undertake work to keep their legislative clients apprised of executive, legislative, or judicial proposals affecting their interests. The office subscribes to two copies of the Montana Administrative Register, a bi-weekly publication that lists all agency rule-making and proposed hearings. Two members of the firm review this publication for issues of concern and copy items for attorneys with interested clients. In addition, attorneys regularly attend meetings of the interim committees.
Federal Lobbying and Grassroots Lobbying
When BKBH's clients face national, state, or local challenges, mobilization of an effective campaign is often deemed essential to overcome such challenges. BKBH is prepared to organize professional, effective campaigns utilizing our in-house services in the areas of policy development, media relations, grassroots communications, and/or direct political advocacy. BKBH also provides its clients with direct access to Montana's Congressional delegation from a constituent's point of view, a service non-Montana firms cannot provide. Finally, BKBH provides representation before Montana's state governmental departments and agencies and its Legislature.
Throughout BKBH's initial years of operation, the firm has grown steadily both in size and reputation for integrity and competence. Much of this growth is attributable to the firm's commitment to deliver high quality services in a timely and cost-effective manner. Experienced in a variety of areas, the firm employs a multi-disciplinary approach, utilizing legal, technical, political, budgetary, and communication skills as needed. Above all, the firm seeks to solve its clients' problems with tenacity and creativity.
The firm's principal areas of practice are: grassroots and grass-tops lobbying strategies, legislative work, administrative law, banking law, commercial law, government contracts, environmental law, health law, water law, insurance defense, workers' compensation, and taxation and public finance.
Grassroots and Grass-tops Lobbying Strategies
BKBH has formed various organizations and conducted campaigns for many special issues. The following are some of the methodologies utilized by BKBH which have proven to be successful:
- Mass mailings
- Widespread postcard campaigns
- Public Service Announcements
- Letter writing campaigns aimed at influential policy makers
- Creation and implementation of phone trees
- Press conferences
- Initiative and Referendum campaigns
- Mobilization of selected impacted individuals or organizations
Some examples in which BKBH has utilized the above referenced methodologies are as follows:
Montana "Slippery Slope" Coalition. Grassroots coalition of wholesalers, retailers and other constituency groups to influence congressional and federal actions.
Montana Air Quality Standards Coalition. This was a grass-tops campaign, associated with the national Air Quality Standards Coalition, implemented to address business concerns associated with proposed Environmental Protection Agency air quality rules.
Organized grass-tops campaign to garner Congressional support in a matter involving a complaint filed with the World Trade Organization against anti-free trade practices in Japan.
Montanans for Common Sense Cleanup. A coalition formed to mobilize support for federal superfund reform.
Health Insurance Coalition
Worked on behalf of business and recyclers on RCRA; National Bottle Bill. This project entailed organizing bottlers and recyclers to support proposed RCRA measures which would support business and recyclers.
Clean Water Coalition. This was an organization formed to oppose stricter water standards which would have been detrimental to business.
Clean Air Coalition for 1991 Act. Represented transportation, mining, and manufacturing entities in procuring business favorable provisions in the Clean Air Act.
Organized the Montanans for a Drug Free Society which supported drug testing in the workplace.
Formed the Beer Tax Coalition consisting of retailers to oppose a proposed tax increase.
Organized mining entities and mining friendly organizations to support federal level efforts concerning imposition of foreign taxes on mining.
Organized luxury automobile dealers and servicing operations in opposition to a proposed excise tax on luxury automobiles.
Election Law, Initiatives and Referendums
In recent years there has been an increase in the use of initiatives and referendums to regulate business in Montana. Montana's Trade Associations and their members are increasingly at risk of being regulated by an initiative or referendum. BKBH develops and implements public relations campaigns related to initiatives and referendums. BKBH advises clients on issues related to contributions, election law, and reporting issues related to initiatives and referendums.
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