McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Government policies shape how your business operates – but they are rarely clear-cut. How they are interpreted can matter as much as what they say. Our government and lobbying lawyers translate policies into commercially focused legal guidance. We combine strong government relationships with knowledge of how laws and regulations are shaped, interpreted, and enforced, helping you protect your interests in a complex regulatory environment.

With firsthand experience inside government, we partner with you to prepare for change – not just react to it. Our government and lobbying lawyers have served in senior roles within key regulatory agencies and maintain strong agency relationships across the United States, Europe, and China. We leverage this experience to help you navigate regulatory frameworks, engage strategically with policymakers, and manage risk while minimizing disruption to your business.

Our government and lobbying strategies team provides comprehensive guidance across state, federal, and global markets – advising you on laws and regulations governing commerce and trade, customs, competition, environmental issues, workplace safety, and employment. We also guide you through evolving areas such as privacy and data protection, so your business can stay aligned with shifting regulatory expectations.

We routinely represent clients in matters across highly regulated industries, including:

• Healthcare
• Life sciences
• Energy
• Aerospace and defense
• Agribusiness
• Food and alcohol

From securing FDA approval for medical devices and navigating TTB labeling rules to resolving WTO tariff disputes and obtaining renewable energy tax credits, we help you navigate regulatory frameworks so you can move your business forward.

We don’t just interpret regulations; we work to shape them. Partnering closely with you, we develop targeted lobbying strategies and engage with stakeholders and policymakers. Whether addressing immediate challenges or long-term priorities, we advocate for your interests.

Our government and lobbying strategies team brings the experience, judgment, and relationships needed to interpret government policies and help shape them. We translate regulatory complexity into actionable guidance – helping you take advantage of opportunities while reducing your exposure to risk.

When your business operations are adversely impacted by federal, state or local government action in the United States, our team uses a unique skillset and decades of litigation experience to help you secure strategic relief. If needed, we sue governments on your behalf for laws they enact, regulations they promulgate and agency actions they undertake.

To benefit a wide variety of clients regulated by the government, including companies and trade associations across all industries and sectors, our team designs and brings legal challenges to actions taken by federal, state, and local governments and their subsidiary agencies.

Litigation is one of many tools we use to help you achieve your objectives: When you have a problem with the government, we analyze the issues, map out a strategy and explore whether litigation will be most effective for you. Partnering with our colleagues in health, tax, energy, transactions and other areas frequently affected by government action, we contest federal and state laws as unconstitutional or preempted, bring Administrative Procedure Act challenges to regulations, and challenge a variety of agency decisions. When appropriate, we are also adept at building media relations strategies to nurture your message in the public sphere.

With long experience in federal, state and local government lawsuits; a winning record; and encyclopedic knowledge of constitutional lawsuits, Section 1983 lawsuits and other frequent actions against the government, our team has a clear view of current law—and a strong vision for how we can use sound, creative legal reasoning to push it in other directions based on your needs. As a responsive, client-focused group, we bring strategic thinking, a deep understanding of administrative law, litigation skill and superior legal writing to your most novel problems.

Government investigations and enforcement actions are among the most consequential matters a company or individual can face – they can be detrimental to your business, leadership, and reputation. From prevention through defense, our lawyers help you navigate government scrutiny, partnering with you to manage risk in high-stakes investigations, enforcement actions, and parallel proceedings.

Our white-collar defense and government investigations team includes dozens of former senior officials from key US enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). We instinctively understand how these agencies operate, allowing us to anticipate government strategies and shape yours accordingly.

Our global team of more than 60 lawyers defends companies, boards of directors, executives, and senior leaders in complex white-collar defense and investigations – including parallel proceedings across multiple venues:

• Government investigations (criminal and civil)
• Internal investigations and board-led inquiries
• Regulatory enforcement actions and proceedings (federal, state, and international)
• Criminal and civil defense and proceedings
• Cross-border and multi-jurisdictional matters
• Compliance and risk management

We coordinate across agencies and jurisdictions to ensure a consistent, strategic defense, helping to reduce risk, avoid conflicting positions, and strengthen outcomes.

Our team also brings deep experience in emerging and highly regulated areas, including healthcare and digital assets like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). We help you navigate the nuanced regulatory frameworks that govern these sectors.

To stay ahead of potential investigations and enforcement actions, our lawyers work with you to strengthen compliance programs and identify risks early. Through internal investigations, responses to government inquiries and disclosures, and ongoing advisory support, we help you build processes designed to reduce enforcement exposure.

Our white-collar defense and government investigations team combines insider perspective with practical, business-focused guidance. We guide you through consequential government scrutiny, helping you mitigate risk, manage uncertainty, preserve business continuity, and protect your reputation.