SourceWatch needs your financial support to survive and thrive. If you've found this information on the people, organizations, and issues shaping the public agenda helpful, please make a tax-deductible donation now.

Hunton & Williams

From SourceWatch

Jump to: navigation, search


This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation. Help expose the truth about the tobacco industry.

This article is part of the Water portal on SourceWatch.

Hunton & Williams is an international law firm with 19 offices "throughout the US, Europe and Asia," according to its website. [1]

"The firm garnered attention" in 2007, "when its lawyers argued that the Clean Air Act does not give EPA the right to regulate carbon dioxide in the controversial Supreme Court case Massachusetts v. EPA," noted Greenwire. [2]

Contents

Anti-environmental lobbying

"In Massachusetts v. EPA, Hunton argued that Congress did not intend to give the EPA powers to regulate carbon dioxide when it wrote the Clean Air Act," reported The Hill. While the Supreme Court disagreed, "by the time the court announced its ruling, the firm had built up a team of energy lobbyists who could field questions from clients and congressional staff about the decision’s implications -- and work to minimize the potential damage to their clients through legislation." [3]

In its other lobbying work, "Hunton lawyers argued on behalf of Conoco [in 2006] that the company should be eligible for a $1-a-gallon tax credit for producing renewable diesel by adding animal fats to its traditional refining process. The IRS agreed. The firm's lobbyists are now working to protect that credit against efforts in Congress to limit its application to biodiesel plants, which use a different process." [3]

Water Policy Institute

In June 2008, Hunton & Williams established the Water Policy Institute (WPI), a think tank "bringing together industry leaders ... to address water supply, quality and use issues." [4]

WPI is chaired by former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief turned PR consultant Christine Todd Whitman, with Hunton & Williams partner Kathy Robb as its director. Its founding corporate members included BP, Central Arizona Project and GE Water. [4]

"Climate change is likely to be a major topic" of the Water Policy Institute, according to a profile in the Clean Water Report. "Other topics will include the intersection of water quality and quantity; desalination; new technology; agriculture; allocation of water; and infrastructure." [5]

Tobacco ties

Hunton & Williams was counsel for Philip Morris. (PMI's Introduction to Privilege Log and Glossary of Names, Estate of Burl Butler v. PMI, et al, April 19, 1996). They are a law firm in Richmond, Virginia (USA) and were a major law firm used by Philip Morris Cos. Inc., circa 1993.(NJL 5/9/94) Attorneys T. Justin Moore III, Robert E.R. Huntley, were on the board of directors of Philip Morris Cos. Inc., circa 1993.(NJL 5/9/94)

Linked to Search for Common Ground.

Lobbying clients

The firm's lobbying practice brought in $5,260,000 in 2007 and $2,365,000 in the first three quarters of 2008, according to the Lobbyists.info database. Lobbying clients, as of February 2009, include: [6]

Other 2008 lobbying clients listed in the OpenSecrets.org database are: [7]

Clients

The firm's website says its clients range "from start-up companies to multinational corporations. We serve clients in virtually every industry throughout the world." A "representative" list of Hunton & Williams clients includes: [8]

Contact details

Hunton & Williams LLP
1900 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

Phone: 202-955-1500
Fax: 202-778-2201
Web: http://www.hunton.com/

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

  1. ↑ "Offices," Hunton & Williams website, accessed February 2009.
  2. ↑ Katherine Boyle, "WATER: Former EPA administrator to head policy institute," Greenwire, June 4, 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jim Snyder, "Hunton & Williams fires up lobbying practice," The Hill, July 18, 2007.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Press release, "Water Industry Leaders Launch Water Policy Institute to Address Current Challenges: Christine Todd Whitman to serve as chair; Hunton & Williams lawyer as director," Hunton & Williams, June 4, 2008.
  5. ↑ "New water institute seeks to convene diverse voices," Clean Water Report, June 18, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Hunton & Williams LLP," Lobbyists.info (sub req'd), accessed February 2009.
  7. ↑ "Lobbying spending 2008: Hunton & Williams," OpenSecrets.org, accessed February 2009.
  8. ↑ "Our clients," Hunton & Williams website, accessed February 2009.

External resources

External articles


This article may include information from Tobacco Documents Online.

Search the Documents Archives of the Tobacco Industry
Legacy Tobacco Documents Library:

This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hunton_%26_Williams"
Personal tools

Be a SourceWatcher!

Enter your e-mail address to get the Center for Media and Democracy's free weekly e-newsletter.