Top Aide to House Speaker Pelosi to Join Akin Gump

(Washington, D.C.) – Arshi Siddiqui, senior policy advisor and counsel to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), will join Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as a partner in the policy practice in Washington. 

Smith W. Davis, co-leader of Akin Gump’s policy practice, said, “Arshi is a superb and highly regarded lawyer with a wealth of experience in legislative policy and strategy.  We are very pleased to welcome her to the firm.” 

Former Rep. Vic Fazio (D-CA), a senior advisor at Akin Gump, added, “Arshi is bright and savvy about the ways of Washington.  Our firm was most fortunate that she chose to join our team as she begins a new phase of her career.  I will enjoy having another Californian in the group to help us represent our West Coast clients.”

Since joining Rep. Pelosi’s leadership staff in 2003, Ms. Siddiqui has provided counsel on numerous legislative initiatives, including the historic comprehensive health insurance reform legislation, the economic recovery package, and the financial recovery and stimulus bills.  She has advised the speaker and Democratic members of the House on tax, trade, economic, pension and certain health care matters.  Ms. Siddiqui’s duties also have included working with the administration, relevant Committees in both chambers and Senate leadership on legislative strategy in these areas.

Before joining the office of Rep. Pelosi, Ms. Siddiqui was in private practice in Washington, representing corporate clients before Congress and the executive branch.  She began her career on Capitol Hill, first as a policy aide to Rep. Eva Clayton (D-NC) and subsequently as Ways and Means counsel to Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA).  Ms. Siddiqui received her B.A. from the University of California at Davis in 1994 and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1997.

Ms. Siddiqui said, “Public service has given me an unparalleled opportunity to work on a wide range of challenging issues with extremely talented leaders on both sides of the aisle and the private sector.  I look forward to joining Akin Gump and to working with colleagues I have long admired and respected.”

Joel Jankowsky, senior executive partner at Akin Gump, said, “Arshi is the most recent addition to Akin Gump’s robust policy practice — following partners Scott Parven and Brian Pomper and their team from lobbying boutique Parven Pomper Strategies, who joined the firm earlier this month — and is part of the firm’s overall strategy to build on our existing base of talented professionals to continue to enhance our ability to represent clients before the federal government.” 

Founded in 1977, Akin Gump’s bipartisan policy practice numbers more than 50 lawyers and professionals with broad and deep experience in government policy and practice.  The group’s clients include corporations, government entities, Native American tribes, nonprofit organizations, coalitions and trade associations, and individuals.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a leading international law firm, numbers more than 800 lawyers in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. 

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