Campaign Finance and Election Law
The Capital Law Group has experience in politics and the law. Some attorneys have run for political office, others have held senior positions in the executive and legislative branches. Still others drafted the North Carolina laws now being enforced. Supporting these attorneys is a team of experienced compliance specialists who help our clients with various state and federal filing and regulatory requirements.
Myriad laws and regulations govern political activity for federal and state elections. Violations of campaign finance laws, lobbying disclosure, legislative and executive branch ethics rules and codes have significant civil and criminal consequences, including potential felony jeopardy.
New laws, federal and state court decisions, most notably Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, present opportunities for businesses, certain nonprofits and other organizations seeking to participate more directly in electoral politics. However, the manner in which independent expenditures must be structured, the way political parties can finance their activities, the support nonprofit organizations can give to voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts, and fundraising for candidates, parties and other political organizations require significant and careful legal advice.
Additionally, increased state, county and municipal “pay-to-play” laws regulate political activity by companies doing business with governmental entities, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission rules for those persons subject to their regulation, carry serious penalties for non-compliance. This requires you to seek careful legal analysis and planning if you wish to engage in political activity.
Political Compliance and Reporting Services
Political committees, corporations or nonprofits that fail to follow complex, sometimes seemingly incomprehensible laws and rules, will end up with significant penalties – financial fines and negative press. The Capital Law Group offers fixed-fee legal compliance and reporting services to avoid these outcomes.
We maintain a staff of political compliance professionals, who are able to handle all of your compliance needs – and keep you out of trouble! Under the supervision of our attorneys, our accountants provide comprehensive bookkeeping and reporting services, including:
- Creating and maintaining federal, state, and local candidate committees, ballot measure committees, Political Action Committees (PACs) and independent expenditure committees. Filing initial formation paperwork to preparing and filing their campaign reports (including 10-day, 48- and 24-hour reports) and tax returns.
- Complete operational financial management including maintaining bank accounts, collection and depositing contributions, tracking and payment of expenses, and preparing regular financial statements, in full legal compliance with all applicable reporting requirements.
- Preparing and filing federal, state, and local lobbying disclosure reports.
- Preparing and filing federal and state annual statement of economic interest disclosure reports.
- Preparing and filing state and federal tax returns for nonprofit organizations, as well as compliance reports filed by nonprofits with various Secretary of States.
- Design, document, and implement internal compliance and training programs to ensure compliance with state and federal campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws and rules
Campaign Consulting, Election Contests and Recounts
The Capital Law Group has represented clients in state and federal recounts, election challenges, residency challenges and redistricting cases.
Political Consultants
Political campaigns are highly regulated and legally complex, with political opponents, the press, and watchdog groups eager to file complaints or a story. Political consultants can help make or break a candidate, but they have unique legal issues as well.
For instance, campaign consultants must have proper infrastructure to provide separation between their staff working with candidates and those working with independent expenditure groups. We can help provide a complete understanding of federal and state coordination rules, with appropriate written firewall policies between all parties.
If your consulting business operates as a corporation, care must be taken not to make an illegal corporate contribution by reducing or forgiving amounts previously billed.
Who owns your work product? Most boilerplate political consulting contracts provide for confidentiality, but are silent as to who owns produced advertisements, voter and supporter lists, purchased data mining, graphics or scripts after a campaign. Your consulting contract should define who has an owns the work product.
Media Firms
Media firms and broadcasters must comply with regulations on political broadcasts, disclosures, disclaimers, and fair use issues on both the state and federal level. Internet political communications represent new challenges and issues as rules constantly evolve. We advise campaigns, independent expenditure committees and broadcasters on:
- Compliance with the Federal Communications Commission’s “equal time,” sponsorship disclosure, and political rate regulations
- The Federal Election Commission’s “media exemption”
- Attempts to limit free speech and potential libel claims
- Potential disclosure or regulatory rules involving Internet solicitation and political advocacy.
Enforcement Proceedings and Investigations
Corporations, elected officials, individuals, and political organizations have retained us for advice and representation in enforcement matters, rulemaking, advisory opinion requests and other matters and proceedings before the Federal Election Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Internal Revenue Service, North Carolina State Board of Elections, as well as other state and local administrative agencies.
We have provided client representation before federal and state agencies in public corruption and criminal campaign finance investigations.
Litigation
Working out solutions to problems without litigation is almost always preferable. However, sometimes the only way to resolve matters for our clients is through the court system. We are zealous advocates, representing you in election disputes, agency actions, and matters relating to political activity and expression litigating in Federal and state courts. Our firm also represents clients in business disputes and other civil litigation matters arising out of political campaigns.
Enforcement Proceedings and Investigations
Corporations, elected officials, individuals, and political organizations have retained us for advice and representation in enforcement matters, rulemaking, advisory opinion requests and other matters and proceedings before the Federal Election Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Internal Revenue Service, North Carolina State Board of Elections, as well as other state and local administrative agencies.
We have provided client representation before federal and state agencies in public corruption and criminal campaign finance investigations.
Lobbying and Government Ethics
The Capital Law Group provides legal and strategic advice to ensure our clients are compliant in their government relations work at the federal, state, and local level across the country. This includes lobbying, pay-to-play regulations, establishing and maintaining a corporate PAC, and helping create internal policies to ensure company-wide compliance with gift rules and other federal, state, and local lobbying registration and disclosure laws.
We provide legal compliance advice with direct and grassroots lobbying rules, including television, mail, internet, phone, and member-to-member communications. We assist and advise our clients on the appearance of impropriety, including conflicts of interest, gift and honoraria laws, and revolving door issues. The Capital Law Group helps lobbyists and their clients comply with federal, state and local lobbying laws, by preparing lobbyist registration and disclosure statements while making sure they are aware of restrictions and prohibitions on their political and lobbying activities.