Chambers & Partners, one of the leading researchers in the legal profession, identified Sandler, Reiff, Young, & Lamb, PC as one of the top law firms dealing in Political and Election Law. In it’s 2013 guide to the top law firms, Chambers selected SRYL as a Band 2 law firm, recognizing the firm’s strength in catering to client’s needs. Chambers also recognized the firm’s broad client base, including candidates for federal, state, and local office, businesses, unions, non-profits, PACs, and political party committees. SRYL was recognized for it’s status as a boutique firm, allowing firm attorneys a high level of personal interaction with clients, and was the smallest firm recognized by Chambers in this practice area.
Chamber’s specifically recognized Joseph Sandler as a “Key Individual,” with a strong focus on matters of campaign finance, and corporate and tax issues that affect political advocacy.
Joe Sandler was recently cited as an expert in the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) in an article by Buzzfeed Politics about foreign lobbying in the United States. The article discusses a key loophole in FARA: so long as the lobbying isn’t directly funded or supported by a foreign governmental agency, the lobbyist does not have to register under FARA, but rather under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which has much less stringent reporting and transparency requirements. However as the article explains, there are many indirect ways foreign governments can get around FARA while still effectively lobbying in America. While both laws grew out of “anti-corruption crusades of the 1990s,” Mr. Sandler told Buzzfeed that “For better or for worse, it’s legal,” and that the two laws “evolved in completely different ways.”
Joe Sandler will speak today on campaign finance reform at a roundtable symposium at The University of Massachusetts School of Law. The subject of the symposium is “Politics and the Law” and will feature a keynote address from US Congressman Bill Keating (D-MA). In addition to Mr. Sandler’s discussion of campaign finance reform, other speakers will discuss additional topics including political corruption and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
The symposium is open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis
SRYL Partner Joe Sandler was named to the 2013 edition of Best Lawyers of Washington, DC and Baltimore. He was selected as a top attorney for Administrative/Regulatory Law. He was also selected last year by the same publication. This recognition is the latest in a long line of honors and awards for Mr. Sandler and the team at Sandler Reiff Young & Lamb.
SRYL Partners Joe Sandler was quoted in a story by The Guardian in the United Kingdom about the rise in importance of lawyers on Election Day. He explains that after the debacle of the Florida recount in the 2000 Presidential elections, a network of attorneys has grown into a “veritable army.” The article explains that in 2004, both campaigns had paid attorneys and volunteers in place in swing states ahead of election day, a model which only expanded in 2008 and 2012.
What will all of these attorneys? Explained Mr. Sandler, “Thousands and thousands of lawyers will be out on election day ferreting out any problems with voting rights.” And should any swing state be too close to call, both campaigns will be ready to litigate.
SRYL Partner Joe Sandler was quoted in an article published by the San Jose Mercury News on Monday. The article discusses the fight over Proposition 37 on this year’s ballot in California. If it passes, it would require labels on all genetically modified foods sold in the state, making it the first law of its kind in the country.
Although opponents of the measure argue that it would lead to a spike in lawsuits for injunctions to stop mislabeling of processed foods, Mr. Sandler, argues that this is not the case.
“It’s not like Prop 65 [a previous similar ballot measure], where there are all kinds of incentives to bring suits and get big contingency fees,” Mr. Sandler told the Mercury News. If companies correct their labels to indicate that food is genetically modified, lawsuits would be dismissed. And if their suppliers certify products are GMO-free, they’re excused from any case. Mr. Sandler is a legal adviser for Right to Know, a ballot committee supporting Proposition 37.
Joe Sandler was just named as one of only 7 lawyers in the Political Law area in the SuperLawyers 2012 Annual List of the top attorneys in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Joe was one of only two lawyers named from non-AMLAW 200 firms.
Sandler Reiff Young & Lamb attorney Liz Howard was quoted today in a Slate.com article regarding political text message spam. The article discusses the proliferation of these unwanted and unsolicited text messages, which cost recipients money in text message charges, in recent elections. Although the Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits sending unsolicited political text messages, some spammers believe they have found a loophole in the law.
In a recent Petition submitted to the FCC on behalf of Scott Goodstein’s firm, Revolution Messaging, Inc., Howard and Joe Sandler request the agency to clarify that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits all political text message spam, even text message spam sent using internet-to-phone SMS. “’You’re not allowed to use an auto-dialing device to call a cell phone without express consent,’ argues Elizabeth Howard, a lawyer with the Washington firm Sandler Reiff Young & Lamb who drafted Revolution’s petition.”
In addition to the article at Slate.com, the issue was also covered by the Los Angeles Times.
On Febrauary 10, SRYL Partner Joseph Sandler was a featured panelist at the annual spring symposium University of North Carolina at Charlotte Law School. The symposium focused on the 2012 elections, and Mr. Sandler served on a panel discussing the effect that Citizens United v. FEC will have on this year’s elections. He was one of five panelists, along with FEC Commissioner Cynthia Bauerly, former FEC Commissioner Scott Thomas, Common Cause North Carolina Executive Director Bob Phillips, and Charlotte Law School Dean Daniel Piar. In addition, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff served as the keynote speaker to the symposium.
The University of Maryland Diamondback recently reported on a case that Sandler Reiff Young & Lamb partner Joseph Sandler argued in support of the Maryland DREAM Act. After Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed the bill last year, opponents of the new law have attempted to put the law to a referendum, where Maryland voters can decide its fate.
Under the DREAM Act, undocumented students can receive in-state tuition to Maryland public colleges if they graduated from a Maryland public high school, complete 60 community college credits, and prove they or their parents had paid state taxes for the past three years. Mr. Sandler, who is arguing the case on behalf of Casa de Maryland, told the Diamondback that the bill is essentially a spending bill because the community college requirements will lead to an increase in state-funding to two-year colleges. If the law is indeed considered a spending bill rather than a policy bill, it would be disqualified from being put to a vote.
“The law is of the type that we believe is not subject to referendum,” Mr. Sandler said. “It includes appropriations; it is essentially a spending bill.”
The case has also drawn media attention for other regional outlets, including the Washington Post.
Chambers & Partners, one of the leading researchers in the legal profession, identified Sandler, Reiff, Young, & Lamb, PC as one of the top law firms dealing in Political and Election Law. In it’s 2013 guide to the top law firms, Chambers selected SRYL as a Band 2 law firm, recognizing the firm’s strength in catering to client’s needs. Chambers also recognized the firm’s broad client base, including candidates for federal, state, and local office, businesses, unions, non-profits, PACs, and political party committees. SRYL was recognized for it’s status as a boutique firm, allowing firm attorneys a high level of personal interaction with clients, and was the smallest firm recognized by Chambers in this practice area.