5 Aug 2023 12:21 am
Who's Behind ALEC?
ALEC’s activities reflect its founding, funding, and control by corporate interests. After paying to get a seat at the table, corporations are able to introduce bills at ALEC conferences that are written by corporate law firms, and that are specifically designed to benefit their industries.
Many of these ALEC bills are written by corporate lawyers at defense firms like Shook Hardy & Bacon.The American Bar Association Journal describes Shook Hardy & Bacon as the “darling of corporate America.”5
Their tenacious defense of the tobacco industry “made Shook Hardy the firm many of the world’s biggest companies turn to at the first hint of trouble with one of their products.”
A New York Times report on Shook Hardy said “tobacco is their middle name,” and the firm’s lawyers have been viewed as “industry propagandists, apologists and co-conspirators.”6 Shook Hardy represents clients from the pharmaceutical, energy, food, banking and tobacco industries, like Pfizer, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Cargill, Bank of America, Philip Morris, Lorillard Tobacco, and British American Tobacco.
ALEC’s monthly periodical Inside ALEC demonstrates the significant role that corporate lawyers like those from Shook Hardy play in the organization, as members of the law firm have contributed essays criticizing environmental protection efforts,7 endorsing corporate immunity from lawsuits,8 and defending abusive insurance company practices.9
The clout of corporations and corporate-backed groups comprising ALEC is unmistakable: Victor E. Schwartz, a Shook Hardy partner and head of its Public Policy Group, chairs ALEC’s Civil Justice Task Force; Tom Moskitis, the American Gas Association’s Director of External Affairs, chaired the Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force; Bob Williams, founder and senior fellow of the corporate-funded Evergreen Freedom Foundation, chairs the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force; Bartlett Cleland, director of the corporate-financed Institute for Policy Innovation, chairs the Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force; and Emory Wilkerson, associate general counsel for State Farm Insurance, chairs the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force.10
Simply put, “corporations can implement their agendas very effectively using ALEC,” as stated by Edwin Bender of the National Institute on Money in State Politics.11
http://www.pfaw.org/rww-in-focus/alec-t ... ures#Voter
ALEC’s activities reflect its founding, funding, and control by corporate interests. After paying to get a seat at the table, corporations are able to introduce bills at ALEC conferences that are written by corporate law firms, and that are specifically designed to benefit their industries.
Many of these ALEC bills are written by corporate lawyers at defense firms like Shook Hardy & Bacon.The American Bar Association Journal describes Shook Hardy & Bacon as the “darling of corporate America.”5
Their tenacious defense of the tobacco industry “made Shook Hardy the firm many of the world’s biggest companies turn to at the first hint of trouble with one of their products.”
A New York Times report on Shook Hardy said “tobacco is their middle name,” and the firm’s lawyers have been viewed as “industry propagandists, apologists and co-conspirators.”6 Shook Hardy represents clients from the pharmaceutical, energy, food, banking and tobacco industries, like Pfizer, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Cargill, Bank of America, Philip Morris, Lorillard Tobacco, and British American Tobacco.
ALEC’s monthly periodical Inside ALEC demonstrates the significant role that corporate lawyers like those from Shook Hardy play in the organization, as members of the law firm have contributed essays criticizing environmental protection efforts,7 endorsing corporate immunity from lawsuits,8 and defending abusive insurance company practices.9
The clout of corporations and corporate-backed groups comprising ALEC is unmistakable: Victor E. Schwartz, a Shook Hardy partner and head of its Public Policy Group, chairs ALEC’s Civil Justice Task Force; Tom Moskitis, the American Gas Association’s Director of External Affairs, chaired the Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force; Bob Williams, founder and senior fellow of the corporate-funded Evergreen Freedom Foundation, chairs the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force; Bartlett Cleland, director of the corporate-financed Institute for Policy Innovation, chairs the Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force; and Emory Wilkerson, associate general counsel for State Farm Insurance, chairs the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force.10
Simply put, “corporations can implement their agendas very effectively using ALEC,” as stated by Edwin Bender of the National Institute on Money in State Politics.11
http://www.pfaw.org/rww-in-focus/alec-t ... ures#Voter