Michael Nutter
- Mayor's Executive Office, City Hall
Room 215
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3290 - P: (215) 686-2181
- F: (215) 686-2180
- Nutter's Website
Mayor, Philadelphia
| 1 | Blank Rome LLP & Employees | $53,300 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Duane Morris LLP & Employees | $48,850 |
| 3 | Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, L.L.P & Employees | $40,450 |
| 4 | Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg & Ellers | $39,600 |
| 5 | Pepper Hamilton, LLP | $35,475 |
About Nutter's Top Donors
Blank Rome LLP & Employees
Once described as an “ATM machine” for Republican candidates, the law firm of Blank Rome has increased its contributions to Democrats in recent years, from hosting a fundraiser for Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2005, to becoming one of Michael Nutter’s biggest contributors during his 2007 campaign for Mayor. The firms represents a wide array of companies subject to state and federal regulation, including health insurers and HMO’s, chemicals manufacturers and distributors, public electric and gas utilities, and private equity firms. Blank Rome also has a separate lobbying arm in Washington, DC, and a striking example of the firm’s ability to use its political connections to recruit new business was detailed in a 12/18/05 American Prospect article about Blank Rome’s role in helping to create, then lobby, the Department of Homeland Security. Joining former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge in creating DHS were lobbyists Mark Holman, Ashley Davis, and Carl Buchholtz. Buchholtz was “the former general counsel to Ridge's gubernatorial campaigns and a partner in the Philadelphia-based law and lobbying firm Blank Rome LLP, who took a year away from the firm to help the White House plan the DHS. Blank Rome's chairman, David Girard-diCarlo, a former Ridge fundraiser and Bush Pioneer in 2000, is among Ridge's closest friends. By the time DHS opened its doors in 2003, Buchholtz had returned to Blank Rome, taking Holman and Davis with him. All three quickly turned to lobbying the department whose creation they had helped to oversee. When Blank Rome signed up 18 companies as new homeland security clients that year, and added homeland security to its lobbying duties for half a dozen existing clients, no ethics rules barred Buchholtz, Holman, and Davis from lobbying the new department—because technically, none of them had worked there.”
Duane Morris LLP & Employees
The law firm of Duane Morris has been one of Pennsylvania’s biggest contributors to political candidates, with over $1.3 million given since 2001. Clients include ExxonMobil, for whom the firm worked on “the elimination of price controls on natural gas, and has progressed to ensuring fair access to pipeline transportation and vouchsafing honest competition in natural gas markets.” In December 2009, Exxon Mobil bought natural gas driller XTO for $41 billion. XTO currently holds 33 permits for drilling in the Marcellus Shale natural gas deposit, which underlies most of Central and Western Pennsylvania. As drilling expands in Marcellus, environmental damage and costs to local governments will be considerable. Run-off water from drilling operations will contain brine, hydrocarbons, and other trace minerals (including potentially dangerous metals) found in the rock. The concentration of these pollutants is so great that, according to a marketing manager at GE Water & Processes Technologies, which develops filtering technologies, “the Marcellus water is the worst water on the planet.”
Duane Morris also represents numerous clients in the gaming industry, including casino operators MGM, Bally Gaming, Resorts International, the Mohegan Sun casino in Pennsylvania and Harrah’s. After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on campaign contributions from donors with an ownership stake in a casino, an analysis by Duane Morris suggested that “the ruling may reflect an acceptance that gaming is now a "mainstream" industry, no more susceptible to corruption than any other business sector, and should be treated accordingly.”
Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, L.L.P & Employees
A January 11, 2009 Inquirer editorial described Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll L.L.P. as one of the “most politically connected law firms in Philadelphia . . . a firm that collects millions in fees for a variety of government legal and bond work while funneling millions of dollars in campaign contributions to politicians.” Gov. Ed Rendell used to work at the firm, and it has been awarded at least $10 million in state contracts during his tenure as governor, according to a 11/14/08 article in The Philadelphia Bulletin. Recent high-profile clients have included the Pennsylvania Senate Republican caucus, which hired the firm to represent it in the ongoing “Bonusgate” investigation of legislative staffer bonuses in Harrisburg, as well as owners of at least 3 of the 13 licensed casinos in Pennsylvania. Nationwide, the firm’s twelve offices also represent defense contractors, managed care companies, utilities, and many other businesses.
Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg & Ellers
http://www.klehr.com/
Pepper Hamilton, LLP
http://www.pepperlaw.com/
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