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Public Policy

In a world where innovation is outpacing regulation, Orrick offers our clients unique solutions to policy advocacy and regulatory enforcement at the state level. Why the states? It’s where some of the most essential regulation and most active enforcement is happening today. We combine deep sector insight and effective advocacy to help state lawmakers and enforcers understand our clients’ products and commitment to responsible business. We advocate before state AGs and legislatures. And we do it not just in one state – but in all 50. Where federal agencies are involved, we cover that as well.

Our Team

Sometimes we play offense – advocating for policy that enables innovation – and sometimes it’s defense, responding to enforcement action or fighting unfair policy. Regardless, we put together a team built for each client or coalition. We draw on a roster with deep experience in state and federal government, in-house government affairs roles and litigation. This includes the perspectives of a two-time state AG deeply respected on both sides of the aisle, a former general counsel of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, government affairs professionals at leading companies – including former policy advisors at three of the Magnificent 7 tech companies – and numerous former national and state-level legislative liaisons and agency regulators.

We also collaborate with Orrick colleagues with experience in senior roles at virtually every federal agency that regulates our clients.

Our Work

We advocate for policy that balances the benefits of innovation with responsible business practices and models. We advise and devise solutions to greenlight projects and mergers, advocate for thoughtful and fair taxation policies, and seek appropriate review or recourse in response to an unfair competitor – or a playing field that’s entirely unfair.

We do so by understanding the interplay of federal and state policy priorities and then selecting and collaborating with the right coalitions of industry players and government representatives to help policymakers understand – and take action in response to – the evolving landscape.

We have experience at the cutting edge of Technology & Innovation, Energy & Infrastructure, Finance and Life Sciences & HealthTech, in industries including:

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Online Safety
  • Media & Telecommunications
  • Mobility
  • Blockchain & Digital Assets
  • Gaming and Fantasy Sports
  • Data Centers
  • Banking
  • Fintech
  • Healthcare and Health Tech
  • Energy & Infrastructure

State Legislative & Regulatory | State Attorneys General Investigations & Enforcement

State Legislative & Regulatory

Most of the 7,300+ state legislators in the United States will vote on more bills in a single session than Congress considers in four years. These are often the laws that govern if and how a company can lawfully operate their business in a particular state.

State-level issues are especially challenging for businesses. Instead of one set of laws and regulations to consider at the federal level, there are potentially 50 different sets of regulations and legislation at the state level – each enacted on their own unique procedure and timeline. A single amendment – buried in a 200-page bill introduced in the middle of the night – could upend an entire sector in a state overnight.

Clients hire us to design and deploy proactive strategies and campaigns to win at the state capitols. We are in the building. We draft the legislation. We prepare the testimony. We work to turn around amendments on the floor while the vote is still being called. With our deep sector knowledge, we help pass legislation that will provide our clients with a fair playing field in their most important markets, or persuade state and local regulators to make regulatory space for innovative business models.

We work with a team of 100 contract lobbyists to execute.

24+
States where Orrick helped
shape AI regulation

30
States where we helped
legalize online sports betting

150+
Anti-competitive tax bills
defeated across 45 states

The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post have all profiled our work. And the impact that matters come from clients whose businesses and innovations we protect.

Contacts

State Attorneys General Investigations & Enforcement

As their states’ chief law enforcement officers, AGs enforce state laws in wide-ranging areas including consumer protection, data privacy, antitrust, and environmental law, and they influence important state policies and laws affecting the high-technology, finance, energy, and healthcare sectors. As their states’ chief legal advisors, AGs sometimes also challenge federal laws, regulations, and policies in order to defend their states’ right to govern themselves against federal overreach. In addition, they frequently collaborate with their federal counterparts at agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission.

Orrick’s team brings rich insight into the dynamics within state AG offices and at the FTC: the core of our team includes former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna; former Wisconsin Chief Deputy Attorney General Andrew Cook; Anisha Dasgupta, former General Counsel of the FTC and former New York Deputy Solicitor General; and Brian Moran, a former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington and Chief Deputy Attorney General.

Our deep understanding of how AG offices work, our personal credibility with those offices and their leaders, and our substantive legal and policy experience afford our clients advantages that other firms simply cannot match. Similarly, our team includes deep experience with the FTC’s bi-partisan commission and their staff.

Wide-Ranging Consumer Protection Experience

Our deep experience with AG office and FTC consumer protection enforcement ranges from cybersecurity to tort liability, unfair competition and state merger review, to Medicaid fraudulent billing matters. Our legal and policy experience also includes working with state legislators and state agencies to draft, implement or amend state laws and regulations; approving indictments and negotiating settlements; and overseeing state appellate strategy, including arguing on behalf of states in significant cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Contact

  • State Legislative & Regulatory

    Artificial Intelligence.

    The state legislatures have become the front line of AI regulation. In a single year, hundreds of bills dropped in over 40 states – covering everything from frontier model disclosure to algorithmic accountability to outright bans on specific applications. Over the past two years, we’ve helped shape frontier model legislation in more than two dozen states on behalf of the American Innovators Network, the advocacy coalition formed by Andreessen Horowitz. We also passed two crypto bills and helped execute a ballot initiative in Nevada to establish a dedicated judiciary for corporate law.

    Safeguarding Sports Integrity.

    When the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for states to decide whether to legalize sports wagering, Major League Baseball, the NBA, and PGA TOUR turned to Orrick. The objective was simple: encourage the passage of legal, safe sports betting legislation to stamp out the illegal sports betting market, while ensuring states build in protections that safeguard the integrity of sports contests. Today, sports betting is legal and safe in Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, and other states because of Orrick’s work.

    Online Gaming.

    Orrick was the key architect of a nationwide strategy that saved the $7 billion fantasy sports industry. In a matter of months, Orrick convinced New York lawmakers to pass a bill that neutralized the New York AG’s illegal gambling claims against our clients and allowed them to resume business in time for the NFL season. Over the past four years, Orrick has helped DraftKings and FanDuel become the leading sports entertainment platforms in the country – first, by passing similar fantasy sports legislation in 21 other states and Puerto Rico and, now, by legalizing online sports betting in 30 jurisdictions and counting.

    Defeating Anti-Competitive Taxes.

    Satellite TV was one of the first disruptive technologies to face a concerted regulatory and legislative pushback from an entrenched competitor – the cable TV industry. We orchestrated the response to cable’s effort to impose anti-competitive taxes on satellite. We have defeated more than 60 cable-led tax proposals in 27 states since 2009, saving DISH Network and DIRECTV millions of dollars in litigation costs and tens of millions in lost revenue.

    Protecting Emerging Business Models.

    In a tremendous win for HR software startup Zenefits, we reversed the ban that shut down the company’s ability to operate in the state of Utah. We defended Zenefits before state regulators who challenged the legality of its business model, a challenge supported by incumbent market competitors. This successful regulatory and legislative strategy was called “a roadmap for startups facing regulatory challenges in the future” by Forbes.

    Clearing Regulatory Risks.

    Looking for innovative ways to protect a substantial investment, one of the world’s largest asset managers, Fortress Investment Group, turned to Orrick to develop a multistate legislative and regulatory strategy for its life settlement portfolio. Orrick advanced legislation in multiple states that provided much-needed certainty to the $30 billion tertiary life insurance market. In just two years, we passed groundbreaking legislation in Minnesota and advanced bills in Delaware and California, despite being outspent 10:1 by our opponents.

    State AG Investigations & Enforcement

    Multi-State AG Antitrust Campaign.

    Representing a leading pay TV provider in mobilizing a coalition of eight state AGs to file suit and successfully obtain a temporary restraining order enjoining a blockbuster $6.2B merger that would have enabled the combined company to reach 80% of U.S. television households – one day before the FCC and DOJ approved the transaction. This merger would have placed enormous strain on our client’s business model via retransmission fees, which have gone up 2,000% since 2010 due to industry consolidation.

    Telecommunications.

    Representing a leading telecommunications company in a national AG multistate investigation into industry billing practices. We secured the cooperation of the investigating AG offices, forestalled the issuance of civil subpoenas, and negotiated a favorable settlement for our client.

    Consumer Protection.

    Representing several online companies in AG consumer protection investigations involving allegations of unfair and deceptive business practices.

    Competition in Tech.

    Representing a Fortune 40 technology company in several AG matters relating to legal, policy, and competition issues.

    Multi-State AG Campaign.

    Representing a technology client in reaching out to a large number of AGs on a significant matter involving their states’ consumer protection and criminal laws and successfully moving the AGs to multi-state action. We were engaged after over a year of effort by other AG practices and lobbyists when they failed to advance the matter.

    Products Liability.

    Representing a major multinational corporation in a products liability matter being evaluated by numerous state AGs on behalf of their state transportation agency clients.

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