The Public Strategies Group of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP is a team of experienced public affairs professionals who provide government relations consulting and lobbying services. Based in Boston and Washington, DC, the Public Strategies Group works closely with the Public Policy and International Law Group, the Government Relations and Administrative Law Group, and EducationCounsel LLC, an affiliate of Nelson Mullins. Together these teams comprise the Nelson Mullins' government relations practice, which represents clients before federal, state and local legislative, regulatory and administrative agencies, including extensive lobbying practices in Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Columbia, and Raleigh.

The Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group offers proactive and effective advocacy on behalf of corporate, nonprofit, and government clients in transactions where politics, business, regulatory and legal environments intersect. Our attorneys and strategists offer a unique combination of capabilities – with the support and resources of a large law firm – to provide strategic political intelligence concerning evolving public policy developments, procurement regulations, technology advances and competitive activities that may impact business goals. We also help clients identify and manage political risks as well as recognize and develop new markets and maximize strategic opportunities.

Members of the Public Strategies Group have in-depth experience in public affairs at the federal, state, and local level gained from years of public service. We utilize that experience to provide customized solutions tailored to our clients' needs and goals and to fulfill those solutions effectively and efficiently. Our objective is to provide insight and advice that helps deliver positive, measurable results for clients.

The Public Strategies Group assists businesses and organizations that view government as a funding source, customer, or regulator to maximize their opportunities to work with and benefit from the government and distinguish themselves from the competition. Our services include:

• Development and implementation of funding strategies including federal appropriations and grant opportunities as well as identification of potential private funding sources;
• Accessing federal and state procurement opportunities by evaluating the agencies that serve as the best entry point for government contracts given the particular client's needs;
• Creation and utilization of custom business development networks with government officials, trade groups, academic institutions, investors and others to validate and market client products and solutions;
• Properly positioning a client and its offerings via marketing and public relations planning and tactics;
• Monitoring, drafting, and advocating legislation on behalf of clients, providing insight on legislative issues affecting their businesses, and developing and implementing comprehensive strategies to achieve their legislative goals; and
• Monitoring regulatory matters and representing companies, in cooperation with lawyers in our parent law firm, before state and federal agencies.

Our focus areas include:

Higher Education

Higher education institutions realize that relationships with policy makers, government agencies, business leaders and other academic institutions are required to succeed and grow in this increasingly competitive landscape. Nelson Mullins understands this landscape and has significant experience working at the local, state and federal levels to create competitive advantages for its education clients.

EducationCounsel is a resource and partner for the Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group. EducationCounsel is an innovative law, policy, strategy, and advocacy organization committed to strengthening education systems, closing achievement gaps, and expanding access to educational opportunities. The firm collaborates with education leaders from across the country, including state and local leaders, higher education officials, associations, and pioneering private and public entities to improve educational outcomes for all students.

Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group's clients include major research universities, public and private colleges, affiliated medical centers, community colleges, and businesses involved in the education marketplace. Our work involves developing funding strategies to secure additional public resources for programmatic support, technology upgrades and infrastructure development; business development efforts to better link academic institutions to industry; and government relations initiatives to ensure that our clients are directly involved in policy planning and formation.

To secure funding, the Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group conducts ongoing evaluations of an institution's programs and initiatives. Then, we match them with the most suitable sources of funding, including appropriations and grants. Over the years, we have helped secure millions in funding for research and development, capital projects and core educational programs.

The Public Strategies Group has helped create relationships for higher education institutions in areas such as criminal justice, health care, defense & homeland security, marine technology and renewable energy.

Homeland Security

Professionals on our team were advocating for government and private sector clients on homeland security issues long before 9/11. We have helped clients penetrate the homeland security market to meet increasing security and intelligence requirements. The strength of our work in this area is our ability to directly represent our clients' interests at the state and local levels – where the buyers and end-users make their decisions.

The creation of the Department of Homeland Security – the largest realignment of the federal government in 50 years – brought together 22 U.S. government agencies that had various approaches to the business community and united them under an umbrella organization with the common goal of protecting the United States. Many other executive branch and independent regulatory agencies also altered their rules and regulations to address concerns about security and the requirements of homeland security laws. This transformation has had a major impact on businesses, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations, including colleges and universities, creating a mixed landscape of opportunities, risks, and challenges.

The Department of Homeland Security has more than 180,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $40 billion. A wide range of strategic growth opportunities exists in relation to this fast-growing federal department, and the Public Strategies Group team helps clients across a broad spectrum of industries in both the public and private sector to identify and develop new markets for their products and services while managing political risk.

Energy and Utilities

Today's energy and utility industries are faced with complex and intricate legal and policy challenges. The Public Strategies Group delivers legal and government relations services to major companies in these sectors as they navigate this frequently complicated landscape.

Nelson Mullins attorneys and Public Strategies lobbyists have the ability, experience, and business acumen to represent these clients in regulatory and government relations matters, as well as in other aspects of their business.

With acknowledged competency in the field, our energy and utility attorneys are highly experienced in compliance and licensing issues and representing such companies before state and federal regulatory agencies. Our government relations professionals assist clients in understanding and navigating the public policy aspects of the energy and utility sectors, including assisting with licensing and funding issues, regulatory issues, and business development.

Our clients range from major energy and utility companies to small alternative fuel companies - from a clean coal plant in the Midwest to a large offshore windfarm – from a start-up fuel cell company to a large local government implementing a green transportation initiative. The breadth of our experience uniquely positions us to assist both new entrants and incumbents in utilizing effective legal, regulatory and political strategies to compete successfully in emerging competitive markets.

Healthcare

Both Nelson Mullins attorneys and the Public Strategies Group have significant experience representing clients in the healthcare field. The Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group, working closely with the Nelson Mullins National Healthcare Law Group, strive to be sensitive to the complex decisions that clients face on a daily basis as they balance the resources and needs of their institutions against the demands of states and the federal government.

The Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group is a sophisticated, multi-specialty practice group representing clients engaged in virtually every aspect of the healthcare delivery system. Our health law attorneys provide corporate and regulatory services for clients ranging from long-established healthcare systems, including some of the nation's largest and most respected institutions, to individual physicians and allied healthcare practitioners.

The Public Strategies Group also provides government relations services to numerous healthcare clients, including hospitals, healthcare systems, managed care plans, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, national associations and individual entrepreneurs.

The Public Strategies Group has assisted healthcare clients in dynamic and evolving areas of the industry including:

• Corporate compliance program development;
• Private and public debt financing;
• Obtaining government contracts for production of pharmaceuticals;
• Obtaining necessary regulatory approvals;
• Designing joint ventures;
• Pharmaceutical pricing, development and marketing; and
• Obtaining directed federal appropriations.

Housing

The Public Strategies Group has represented public housing authorities since 1937. Nelson Mullins attorneys and the Public Strategies Group work extensively with several public housing agencies throughout the United States. Our attorneys represents clients in real estate transactions, employee benefits issues, complex litigation matters involving federal and state constitutional law and the United States Housing Act, and in the public finance area, serving as bond counsel for state, municipal and authority issues. We also represent large for-profit developers and tax credit syndicators and act as counsel to national underwriting syndicates in connection with the issuance of tax-exempt municipal bonds.

The Public Strategies Group utilizes our knowledge and experience in the highly unique area of federal regulations governing public housing developments to effectively navigate our clients through various federal and state allocation agency procedures. Our professionals are recognized leaders in affordable housing advocacy and were instrumental in the creation and the permanent extension of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. We have represented clients in areas such as affordable housing and historic-rehabilitation tax credit transactions, multifamily housing financing, syndication and capital financing, the development of national, state and local housing policies and programs, and issues arising from the closure of military bases.

The Public Strategies Group professionals have consistently demonstrated an ability to translate our knowledge of the economy, legislation and housing into appropriate solutions for our clients.

Gaming

The casino entertainment industry is one of the most closely scrutinized, highly regulated, and fastest growing industry sectors in the world. In this competitive environment, gaming operators and their suppliers and support companies need trusted representatives who possess a strong understanding of the complex regulatory environment of the gaming industry. The collaborative network of the Public Strategies Group provides the strategic representation essential for maximizing business and growth opportunities in the casino entertainment and related hospitality businesses.

The Group is extensively involved in the area of gaming law since the early 1980s, representing casinos, equipment manufacturers, Indian tribes, financial institutions and vendors in domestic and foreign jurisdictions. Nelson Mullins attorneys have represented gaming clients before legislative and regulatory bodies and counseled developers and managers of Indian casinos, including addressing the specific gaming concerns of Indian tribes, advising on the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and negotiating with the National Indian Gaming Commission.

The Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group provides services that include helping gaming clients to obtain licenses with state gaming and lottery commissions and providing strategic counseling regarding gaming ventures and management of public policy issues arising from gaming development. In Pennsylvania, we were closely involved in the enactment of the new Pennsylvania Gaming Law and have carefully monitored the initial activities of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on behalf of clients. In New York, we represent one of the world's largest gaming companies in connection with its efforts to establish the first video lottery gaming facility in the City of New York. In Massachusetts, we are very active in state proposals to expand opportunities for gaming and closely monitor gaming legislation on behalf of major gaming clients.

The Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group, working in concert with the overall government relations team at Nelson Mullins, understand how legislative, administrative, regulatory, and political processes operate in the Nation's Capital, at the State House, at the county office building and at City Hall.