Karen Christian Quoted by Am Law on Akin Gump Bipartisan Investigations Teams

Akin Gump congressional investigations practice co-head Karen Christian was quoted by The American Lawyer for its article “Ahead of Midterms, Beltway Firms Emphasize Bipartisan Teams to Help Clients Navigate Changing Political Landscape.”

The article reports that, with the upcoming midterm elections in sight, law firms with offices in Washington, D.C. are preparing to offer bipartisan advice to clients on the political and regulatory environment should the Democrats retain control of Congress or not.

Christian, who has experience working in the House of Representatives with GOP committee members, said of Akin Gump’s bipartisan approach, “Part of our job is helping our clients think about how their industry or business might be the target of investigations. We approach it in a bipartisan way, because if a client ends up in a congressional hearing, both sides of the aisle are going to have questions formed by their political views and policies.”

In dealing with committees, Christian said that a bipartisan team is also part of Akin Gump’s approach because, on policy matters or with investigations, it is not a matter solely of working with the majority party: “The minority is a check on the majority, and you have to factor in how they’re going to think about things as well.”

She added that a bipartisan team is especially important in case of a divided government: “A Republican Congress may be chiefly investigating the administration. But if you’re a company caught between Congress and the administration on a policy issue, program or funding question, you will need to think how that washes out, not only in Congress, but also with whatever relationship you have with the administration.”