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William J. Weber

Bill Weber focuses his practice in the area of government policy, analyzing complex legislative and regulatory issues, formulating strategies for government and public relations and lobbying members of Congress on a range of matters including tax, trade, financial services, energy and healthcare issues. Mr. Weber also advises clients on various aspects of “political” law at the federal and state levels, including formation and operation of political action committees and ethics compliance.

Over the last seven years, Mr. Weber has worked closely with Members of Congress and staff on the Senate Finance, Judiciary, Appropriations and Energy Committees and the House Ways and Means, Financial Services and Energy and Commerce Committees to achieve important objectives for firm clients, including:

• drafting and passing legislation to clarify existing and provide new incentives for carbon capture and sequestration;
• securing extension of expiring tax provisions facilitating foreign investment in U.S. mutual funds;
• working with state and local governments, trade associations and real estate developers to prevent enactment of legislation detrimental to economic development;
• participating in a coalition of major multinationals to repeal harmful trade laws;
• leading a coalition of major insurers to craft and build bipartisan support for critical legislation affecting the regulation of insurance products;
• forging a comprehensive federal government relations strategy from the ground up for a major U.S. corporation;
• facilitating opportunities for clients to testify before House and Senate Committees and preparing testimony;
• developing effective responses to Congressional Committee investigations; and
• marshaling funding requests through the Appropriations process.

Mr. Weber has also worked on matters before the Treasury Department, the State Department, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the SEC and the EPA. Clients he has advised include trade associations, major U.S. multinationals, independent energy producers and hospitals.

Mr. Weber’s primary background is federal legislative policy and procedure, having served as Counsel to Senator Richard Durbin on the Government Affairs Oversight Subcommittee and as Legislative Assistant to Senator Carl Levin. In these positions, Mr. Weber handled complex economic, tax, budget, trade, financial services and other issues, including the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA), the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations inquiry into gasoline price spikes, VA-HUD and related agency appropriations, and passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Prior to his Senate career, Mr. Weber served as Assistant Counsel to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the 91st General Assembly, where he analyzed and drafted legislation and advised on parliamentary procedure. He also previously handled civil litigation matters, including white collar fraud and contested estates at a large, multinational law firm.

Just prior to joining Baker Hostetler, Mr. Weber spent a year in Germany as a Fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation, examining major economic, social and political issues facing Germany and the European Union through work experience in the German Parliament and private sector. As a result of his competency in international affairs, Mr. Weber has also assisted clients with policy and diplomatic matters such as customs seizures, enforcement of intellectual property rights and issuance of visas.

Mr. Weber is a native of Chicago and past president of the Illinois State Society of Washington, D.C.